This time last week, Leon Bridges announced a new album, titled simply Leon. Now, he’s got more news: He’s going on The Leon Tour later this year.
The run kicks off in October and hits a number of North American theaters between then and mid-November. The tour wraps up with a hometown show in Fort Worth, Texas. Hermanos Gutiérrez joins Bridges on the road, while Charley Crockett will also be there for the Forth Worth concert.
Ticket pre-sales start on August 20 and tickets go on sale on August 23 at 10 a.m. local time. More information is available on the tour website.
Bridges says of the tour in a statement:
“I wanted to bring the magic and connection that made this record to this tour, so I felt it was important to pick the right rooms to play. I’ll be performing at intimate theaters this run with my incredible band. These are listening rooms — beautiful stages that truly showcase the music and allow me to get back to analog instrumentation. Plus, I’ve really missed playing guitar. I’ve got my brothers, Hermanos Gutiérrez, supporting me on tour as well. The tour starts in Austin and ends with a truly epic night in Fort Worth — aka Panther City — joined by my friend and Texas legend, Charley Crockett. Can’t wait to play this record for y’all live! Hope to see you out there.”
Find Bridges’ upcoming tour dates below.
Leon Bridges’ 2024 Tour Dates: The Leon Tour
10/04 — Austin, TX @ ACL Music Festival
10/11 — Austin, TX @ ACL Music Festival
10/15 — San Diego, CA @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park *
10/16 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl *
10/18 — Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre *
10/22 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory *
10/24 — Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre *
10/25 — Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre *
10/27 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall *
10/28 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall *
10/30 — New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre *
10/31 — New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre *
11/01 — New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre *
11/03 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
11/04 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
11/06 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia *
11/07 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia *
11/08 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem *
11/10 — Atlanta, GA @ The Fox Theatre *
11/11 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
11/12 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
11/13 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
11/15 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena *^
* with Hermanos Gutiérrez
^ with Charley Crockett
Leon is out 10/4 via Columbia Records. Find more information here.
Early reactions are calling Alien: Romulus a return to form for the iconic alien-infested franchise, which is good news for those facehuggers. They love sticking around and causing deathly drama in space, and they have no reason to stop now.
Director Fede Alvarez was inspired by the early horror of the first installment in the franchise, while also being careful not to alienate (get it?!?!) potential new viewers. “You never want a young audience to go see a movie and furrow their brow thinking, ‘Who is this person? Why is half the cinema so excited about this man and I don’t know who he is?’” he says. “It becomes an excess I’m not interested in,” Alvarez told The LA Times in a joint interview with Scott. So, Alvarez took elements from Ridley Scott’s Alien and collaborated with the director, who also served as producer on the film.
“Ridley was always the person I went to in order to show him where things are and to debate with him and to have his blessing and also his criticism and pushback on some things,” Alvarez explained. “It was a creative collaboration where we met in the middle.” Scott had previously told Alvarez “don’t f*ck up,” so this is a nice follow-up.
Not only were the two able to work together on a worthwhile story, but Scott was very impressed with Alvarez’s take on the Alien-verse. So much so, that he thinks Alvarez could take on another Alien story if he wants to. “I hope Fede’s got another one up his sleeve because I think this is going to do really well,” Scott added. “He’s got a streak of brilliance.” Even though Romulus is a standalone “interquel,” there are always more alien stories to tell.
While this is no confirmation that a sequel will happen, it’s always good to have the brain behind the machine, in this case Ridley Scott, on board with any future projects. Meanwhile, the prequel Alien TV series is underway at FX with Timothy Olyphant attached to star. Not as an alien, but just a regular guy.
Does Rihanna have a new album coming out soon? That’s what a recent report indicates, saying that her “ninth album is finally on the cusp of being released.” At this point, a new Rihanna album very much falls in “I’ll believe it when I see it” territory, though. What folks have been better able to count on from Rihanna these days is new lingerie.
Indeed, on social media today (August 15), Rihanna shared a revealing set of lingerie photos to show off the new Bold Lace collection from Savage X Fenty (find the post here).
As for the products’ features, the description of the Bold Lace Unlined Plunge Bra reads, “Subtle yet striking. Our Bold Lace Unlined Plunge Bra features overstated floral lace on the cups, an underwire for added support, adjustable plush-back straps, and a secure hook-and-eye back closure.” Meanwhile, the blurb for the Bold Lace Thong Panty says, “Subtle yet striking. Our Bold Lace Thong Panty features a mid-rise silhouette, overstated floral lace on the front body, a no-show microfiber waistband, and a soft cotton gusset liner.”
Also available in the Bold Lace collection are the Bold Lace Garter Belt and the Bold Lace Thigh-High Stalkings. Shop the collection via Savage X Fenty or Nordstrom.
For the eighth straight Olympics, the USA women’s basketball team took home the gold medal, but it was not without some drama in the final game against host nation France, where they escaped with a 1-point win to secure the gold.
As always, the USA women’s roster was stacked with the biggest names in the WNBA, but given it was a pretty veteran squad that went to Paris, there could be some turnover for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. It isn’t likely to be as dramatic at the top of the roster as what the men’s team will see, but I’d guess anywhere from 4-6 spots on this year’s roster could turnover depending on what transpires in the WNBA over the next four years.
Here, we wanted to take a too early look at the names that could make up that 2028 squad, starting with this year’s gold medal winning roster and then the up-and-coming names that will be challenging them for spots in L.A.
From The 2024 Roster
Locks
A’ja Wilson
Breanna Stewart
This part of the exercise isn’t hard. Wilson and Stewart are the two best players in the world and they played like, well, the two best players in the world in Paris. They’re USA Basketball vets and present problems for other teams in the frontcourt that no countries have answers for. They will both be 33 by the 2028 Olympics, but they show no signs of slowing down and after leading the way to gold this year, figure to be back doing the same in L.A.
Basically A Lock
Napheesa Collier
Collier started every game and saw her minutes load increase throughout the Olympics, which is usually a pretty good indicator of how much trust she had with the team and coaching staff (it didn’t hurt Cheryl Reeve coaches her in Minnesota too). Collier provides tremendous versatility with her combination of length, strength, and quickness, and she hounded opposing wings defensively and had some big games on the boards, even as she wasn’t asked to be a focal point offensively. Her ability to do the little things on both ends of the floor is incredibly valuable, and at just 27, it’s hard to see her missing out on the 2028 squad when she’s in the midst of her prime.
The Crowded Backcourt Race
Kahleah Copper
Sabrina Ionescu
Jewell Loyd
Kelsey Plum
Jackie Young
This is where things get interesting. The competition for guard spots is going to be incredibly tight in 2028, just as it was this year. I think you can make a case for all five of these women to be back, but I do think there will be at least some turnover in the backcourt just because the pool is so deep.
Copper provided a critical scoring punch off the bench in the semis and finals, and her toughness and tough shot-making ability is always welcome on a USA Basketball roster. Ionescu’s ability to inject instant offense as both a shooter and facilitator will make her a strong candidate in ’28, but she played more sparingly than I think some expected and I’d guess that was largely a defensive decision. Loyd never seemed to quite find a comfortable role offensively on this roster, but she’s so productive in Seattle she could absolutely be a factor again for the ’28 squad. Plum filled the spark plug role, bringing some needed juice to the backcourt off the bench, while her Aces teammate Young played her way into a starting role by the knockout stages and is a two-way player who doesn’t always need the ball to be impactful (which is an important trait for a USA Basketball roster).
All of these women will be in the mix for L.A., but there is a ton of backcourt talent either already in the WNBA or soon to arrive there and the competition for those guard spots is going to be pretty incredible. I’d guess three of these five will be back on the roster, but I’d be fairly surprised if all of them get to run it back.
Veterans Who Might Not Be Back
Chelsea Gray
Brittney Griner
Alyssa Thomas
Gray will be 35 by the L.A. Games, Thomas will be 36, and Griner will be 37. We know USA Basketball values striking a balance between having veterans with Olympic experience and bringing in top young players, so there’s certainly a chance for each of them to earn a spot if they continue playing at their current level four years from now. That said, the player pool figures to only be getting stronger and I think a couple of these spots will be turned over.
Surely By 2028 She Will Have Retired…Right?
Diana Taurasi
I have to assume by 2028 we will not see a 46-year-old Diana Taurasi suiting up for Team USA, but then again, it is DT and no one thought she’d make it to Paris.
New Candidates For 2028
One thing about the USA women’s roster is that it tends to be loaded with top picks. There have certainly been exceptions, but for the most part, the players starring for Team USA have been stars since college. As such, looking for the players that will be in the mix in four years for an Olympic roster spot starts with players who have that kind of pedigree. However, USA Basketball values experience, and it’ll be fascinating to see how many of the young, up-and-coming stars get nods over established veterans who have gold medals already in their trophy cases. Still, I could see as much as half the roster being up for debate going into the 2028 Olympics, with a number of big names in the pipeline that will be challenging for those positions.
Backcourt
Arike Ogunbowale
Caitlin Clark
Paige Bueckers
JuJu Watkins
Has the ship sailed with Ogunbowale at this point with USA Basketball? That’s a legitimate question as she’s been left off the last two rosters despite a strong case for inclusion, and this year Ogunbowale said it was her decision to remove herself from consideration before the final selections. If the door is still open, the Wings star is among the best players on the planet and will still be firmly in her prime in 2028.
Caitlin Clark is about as close to a lock for the 2028 team as you can be without having ever been on a USA Olympic roster. The outcry over her being left off this year went too far, but as Dawn Staley noted in Paris, if she was playing like she did in the month after not making the squad from the start of the season, she probably would’ve gotten the nod.
Paige Bueckers will be in her third year in the W by the 2028 Olympics, and with lofty expectations on the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, she figures to be in the mix for a roster spot. Just as intriguing is JuJu Watkins, as the USC star could be in her second or third year in the WNBA by the time the Olympics arrive, and if she continues on an upward trajectory after a sensational freshman campaign at USC, she just might be one of the best players in the world by that point and hard to justify leaving off.
Frontcourt
Kiki Iriafen
Angel Reese
Cameron Brink
Aliyah Boston
While Bueckers is assumed by many to be the No. 1 pick next year, there is a chance Kiki Iriafen supplants her at that spot with another strong year after transferring from Stanford to USC to team up with Watkins. She’ll have a couple years in the WNBA to cement herself as a star by the time the Olympic team gets picked, and she certainly could have a strong case for inclusion.
Angel Reese has become a household name this year, and if Team USA is looking for some toughness and rebounding to round out their frontcourt, she is as good as there is on the glass in the WNBA. Cameron Brink was supposed to be on the 3×3 team before suffering a torn ACL that ended her season, but the Sparks young star is already among the most feared shot-blockers in the WNBA. If she continues to round out her offensive game, she could certainly be in the mix (especially if Griner isn’t back there could be a void in that shot blocker role off the bench).
Finally there’s Aliyah Boston, who seems to be coming into her own in her second season in Indiana after being the No. 1 pick in 2023. If she and Clark have become the dominant duo the Fever hope they can be by 2028, she figures to factor into the USA Basketball selection pool as well.
The Night Agent pulled off something nearly unheard of in September 2023 by scoring an immediate renewal from Netflix. Amid the streaming service’s more reluctant approach to green lighting additional seasons (The Sandman fans waited seemingly forever for their second season announcement, as did Cobra Kai with that final season news), the Gabriel Basso-starring series took off like an espionage-fueled rocket.
As a result, Netflix made their position known on how serious they feel about this tense but not entirely serious series, and for the second season, Peter is officially out of the basement. The Night Agent also appears likely to carry on for some time with the show sitting firmly the streaming service’s all-time Top 10 TV Seasons list even with Bridgertonswallowing up multiple slots. It’s no wonder that word slipped out that a (non-greenlit) third season is also in the works. Yet we are here to discuss the second season, so let’s get on it.
Plot
Excellent news on season progress recently surfaced via TV Line, which spoke with showrunner Shawn Ryan, who declared, “[W]e have finished editing all 10 episodes and are just working on sound, music and VFX. We’re working hard to have the episodes ready for fans as soon as possible!”
With reports of a third season incoming as well, we can cross fingers that although Peter might hit bumps in the road while following a new learning curve, he shouldn’t have to worry about heading back into the basement to watch a phone at night. That is to say, he should be Night Action-ing well into the future.
As viewers are already aware, The Night Agent is based upon the same-named book from Matthew Quirk, and the first season followed FBI Agent Peter Sutherland after he answered that fateful basement phone call that set the action wheels in motion. In the second season, Peter will formally get his feet wet in the Night Action program, which will take him out of being D.C.-based and onto exotic locales including Thailand (which is TV-trendy with The White Lotus and Alien TV shows shooting there also) and New York City. Peter’s new Night Action boss, Catherine, will feature prominently, and this show will now head into uncharted territory by moving off book. That doesn’t mean, however, that we will not see familiar faces. Luciane Buchanan’s Rose will figure into the second season in some capacity, and Peter will definitely encounter “some unfinished business” with Hong Chau’s White House Chief of Staff Diane Farr. Whether or not this means she will be prosecuted for treason remains to be seen, but she appears to have survived her gun wounds.
Additionally, Deadline has revealed that The Night Agent showrunner Shawn Ryan “sign[ed] a big, four-year overall deal,” which “has been described as ‘pretty remarkable’ in the current economic environment’” with Netflix. In other words, we might not only receive additional seasons of the main series, but it sounds like we’ll soon hear about spin off news (in addition to mere rumors), too. Since The Night Agent has managed to survive staying in the coveted most-watched Netflix TV list alongside the likes of the already-expanded Wednesday, Bridgerton, and Dahmer series, spin off news only seems appropriate.
Cast
Confirmed returns include Basso, Luciane Buchanan, and Hong Chau. Netflix hasn’t revealed whether D. B. Woodside, Eve Harlow, Sarah Desjardins, Enrique Murciano, and/or Fola Evans-Akingbola will be seen, either in real time or flashback mode.
New cast members include Louis Herthum as a global-strings puller and boss of an ex-Marine fixer (Berto Colon). Brittany Snow will portray Peter’s more experienced partner, Catherine, and other additions include Teddy Sears and Arienne Mandi.
Release Date
C’mon, Netflix. The streamer has revealed that The Night Agent will return in 2024, but they are keeping everyone in the dark on when that will happen. So, September 28 is as likely as December 31 at this point.
Trailer
With no trailer released (yet), here’s a video of Basso and Luciane Buchanan talking to Us Weekly about what they would like to see in a second season. Be warned: this was prior to renewal, and Basso says, “I would wanna die at some point.” Well then!
Also, the 2024 Netflix sizzle reel does some brief teasing:
On Thursday, August 15, Halsey released “Lonely Is The Muse.” The alt-rock single traces back to Halsey’s sonic palette for her Grammy-nominated 2021 album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
“I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one, too,” Halsey sings in the chorus. “But I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew / And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you / Or anybody that decides that I’m of use.”
If that weren’t poignant enough, Halsey flexed her poetic acumen even more in the second verse: “So, whеre do I go in the process whеn I’m just an apparatus? / I’ve inspired platinum records, I’ve earned platinum airline status / And I’ve mined a couple diamonds from the stories in my head / But I’m reduced to just a body here in someone else’s bed.”
Halsey has yet to announce her forthcoming album’s title or release date, but it goes without saying that it should arrive sooner than later.
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
A British mystery-comedy starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley? Yeah, that’ll do. Wicked Little Letters is about an English seaside town in the 1920s that gets upended by scandalous mail (or whatever they call it there). A boisterous Irish migrant named Rose (Buckley) is charged with the crime, but as the townspeople, including buttoned-up local Edith (Colman) do their own investigation, “they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.” The trailer is very charming.
Tony Hale has a pretty solid track record when it comes to comedies. Buster in Arrested Development, Gary in Veep, FORKY in Toy Story 4 (do not hold Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip against him). Next up is The Decameron, which is like if The White Lotus took place during the bubonic plague pandemic (or as actress Jessica Plummer described it, “Love Island, but back in the day”). The social satire is getting rave reviews for being “the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since Clue.” Grab your juice and start watching.
Last season on Futurama, Fry, Leela, Bender, & Co. took on an Amazon-like company formed by Mom; caught a rage virus; and got turned into toys (that was a weird one). In season 12 (which is technically the second half of season eight if you go by production order, but let’s stick with Hulu’s season designations for the sake of ease), the gang “embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death, the secrets of Bender’s ancestral robot village, A.I. friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.” Guest stars include Danny Trejo, Cara Delevingne, and Kyle Maclachlan. (Read more about the new season here.)
A while back, I remember seeing someone online make the case for Planet of the Apes as the most consistently good movie franchise. That’s overstating things (how soon we forget Ape Lincoln?), but there are more keepers than stinkers in the series, especially among the recent films. Surprise box office hit Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes needed to justify its existence following the strong conclusion to the Caesar trilogy — and it did. The 10th overall Planet of the Apes features typically CGI work and a stirring story about determination. You won’t hate every ape you see, from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z.
11. Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount Plus)
paramount plus
2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem made a decent amount of money at the box office and received strong reviews — but doesn’t it still feel under-appreciated? It’s a really good movie (and should have been nominated for an Oscar over Elemental)! Paramount Plus spin-off series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set in the same universe as Mutant Mayhem, and the animation looks just as cool as it does in the film. The voice cast of the Turtles (Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon) is back, too, as well as Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil.
It’s a Happy Endings reunion! (Kind of!) Mr. Throwback brings together Happy Endings creator David Caspe and star Adam Pally in a mockumentary series about a memorabilia dealer who reunites with a member of his sixth-grade basketball team: a fellow named 10-time NBA all-star Steph Curry. The cast also includes SNL favorite Ego Nwodim and The Afterparty’s Adyen Mayeri.
A Damon / Affleck movie that isn’t Matt and Ben?!? Now I’ve seen everything. The Instigators stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as unlikely partners in a heist, but when things go south, they “find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses.” The rest of the cast is stacked — including Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, and Ron Perlman — although following the Road House debacle, it would be nice to see a movie directed by Doug Liman in a theater again.
The Umbrella Academy season 4 bids farewell to the Hargreaves family, including Victor (Elliot Page), Luther (Tom Hopper), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Diego (David Castañeda), and Ben (Justin H. Min). Guest stars include David Cross as “a man desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter” and real-life married couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally as college professors. (You can read more about the final season here.)
Did you know that the number one movie on Netflix for much of this cursed week has been The Emoji Movie? Yes, the movie where Patrick Stewart plays a talking pile of poop. This simply will not do. Instead, why not check out a quality animated film, like the vibrant They Shot the Piano Player? The origin story of Bossa nova “captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the ’60s and ’70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.”
Still not on the Sydney Sweeney bandwagon? You will be after watching Immaculate. The horror film stars Tank’s mom as a devout American nun who travels to a convent in Italy where things aren’t quite as they initially appear. Hate it when that happens. The wild ending, in particular, is pretty great.
Solar Opposites doesn’t get as much love and attention as Rick and Morty, another science-fiction/comedy animated series, but it should. The show goes to some truly unexpected places, including The Wall and SilverCops side-stories, and the voice cast of Dan Stevens, Thomas Middleditch, Sean Giambrone, and Mary Mack do fine work as the chaotic former residents of Planet Shlorp. I would die for the Pupa (assuming it doesn’t kill me first).
This third season of Industry, overall, convinces me that there will be a future moment when this series will move beyond scoring critical acclaim and maintaining a loyal but relatively modest audience. Years into the future, this show could catch on with a whole new audience and be streamed into oblivion in a Suits-like way. That USA Network show maintained a dedicated enough audience to last a decade, but years later, the show’s exploding popularity on Netflix led NBC to double back and find new life in the franchise. It’s very easy to imagine Industry someday harnessing broad streaming appeal in the same way. (You can read our review here.)
The world did Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga dirty. Maybe it’s not a stone-cold masterpiece like Mad Max: Fury Road, but few films are. The George Miller epic deserves better than making less money at the domestic box office than It Ends With Us. It has the best action sequence of the year, Anya Taylor-Joy rules, and Chris Hemsworth gives a genuinely Oscar-worthy performance. Also, there’s a character named Pissboy. Fire up Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Max and make it the hit it should have been when it was in theaters.
Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence’s comedy empire expands with Bad Monkey, a good show with a fun premise: Vince Vaughn plays a former cop who is now a health inspector in the Florida Keys. “But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey,” according to the plot synopsis. The show is based on author Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, and has fun summer binge written all over it.
Without naming names, a lot of the biggest names in pop and indie seem afraid to have fun these days. That’s what makes Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter (and on the indie side, Jeff Rosenstock and The Linda Lindas) such a breath of fresh air — they’re not afraid to call out people for pretending to be “too cool” to let loose, jump around, and dance.
Charly Bliss falls into this let’s-have-fun camp, too.
On the band’s first new album in five years, Forever, the quartet — singer Eva Hendricks, drummer Sam Hendricks, lead guitarist Spencer Fox, and bassist Dan Shure — have honed their balance of bubbly pop hooks and crunchy guitar riffs, and they’re having a blast. You will, too. It’s an album meant to be enjoyed among friends or fellows fans, possibly on the Forever And Ever tour.
I recently spoke to Eva Hendricks about the international backstory to making Forever, her feelings on the band’s debut album, and Charly Bliss’ very entertaining Twitter account. Seriously, give it a follow.
I’m asking this as a fan of the band first and a journalist second: where the heck has Charly Bliss been for the past five years?
That is a great question. So much has changed for us in the last five years. Putting this record out has been so wild because it forces you to look at your life and these very specific chunks, like where was I when we were making Guppy? Where was I when we were making Young Enough? And for this album, there’s never been a more intense period of change in my life.
I moved to Australia. Sam became a dad twice over, and so much has just changed for the four of us. It’s really wild. So, yeah, I guess a lot of what transpired was kind of pandemic related. When I went to Australia, I thought I was going there for six weeks. I had just fallen in love with someone who lives there. And right after Sam and his wife had their daughter, I thought, “Well, we can’t be touring for the next six weeks.” It’s so funny we thought that was all at the time. But, yeah, I was like, cool, I’ll go work on the album and write a lot over in Australia and test out this new relationship and see what it is. I left Los Angeles on March 3, 2020, and ended up not leaving Australia for a year and a half. I became like an Australian citizen in that time. We wrote so much of the album over Zoom and figured out a way to make it work while we were apart.
So yeah, that’s where we’ve been.
What does the album title mean to you?
I think when you’re in a period of so much change, it forces you to look at your life and see what are the permanent things. In the period of being in Charly Bliss, I’ve been through so many different romantic relationships and apartments and lifestyle changes, and, you know, tent poles of who I thought I was. This album is so much about reflecting on all of that and realizing that even through all of these shifting external factors, the one thing that never changes, that never goes away, is Charly Bliss. That is the “Forever” of my life.
As much as I do think this is a romantic record, I also think it’s a very friendship-driven record. Me being in Australia and away from my bandmates made me just ache to be back with them. On the song “Waiting For You,” so much of that is about watching footage of us on stage from before the pandemic and realizing, “Oh my god, my dreams came true, and I totally missed it.” I was so stuck thinking about how tired I was or how stressed I was, or is the album doing well or are there enough people at our shows. It’s so possible to focus on all of that and miss what is really happening around you, which is like my greatest dreams for myself, for my friends, for my brother, like it happened. And it’s continuing to happen, like we get to tour the world together and release music together and that is what matters most.
What were some of the challenges — or possibly advantages — of the songwriting process happening virtually?
It was so much fun. I never would have predicted that it would have worked for us, but it really did. I think there’s a lot of pressure trying to be in the same room as people and write a song and work on things. I think I really benefit from being able to go really internal and work something out before I’m ready to let other people hear and react to it. So being able to kind of say, “OK, I’m going to go in the other room for a second and work on something,” or, “I’m going to mute myself for a couple minutes.” And the time zone difference was actually really helpful. Keep in mind, Sam was a new dad through a lot of writing this album, so the fact that my morning was his nighttime was incredibly advantageous to us. Morning, noon, and night kind of ceased to mean anything, because it was like someone is probably always awake in Charly Bliss, so we could work on something.
Then while someone was sleeping, I would work on recording vocals, and then I would send it over to the guys, and then while I was sleeping, they would work on the track. It kind of became this never-ending working period for us. Instead of being like, “OK, we have the practice space for three hours, we have to figure out what’s going on with the song in that time slot.” It felt very seamless and because we didn’t have restaurant jobs or whatever, we were kind of constantly immersed in the process of writing this album. And that was really wonderful for us.
To my ears, this album feels like a mix of the rock-focused Guppy and the more pop-leaning Young Enough. “How Do You Do It,” in particular, reminds me a bit of E•MO•TION-era Carly Rae Jepsen, and then it goes to the fuzzed-out “I Don’t Know Anything.” Did you go into the studio with a sound you were looking for?
It was more of a feeling. There was something about making Guppy that was so special because we didn’t think anyone was going to hear it. I mean, we knew our friends and our parents would hear it and that was about it, and I think there was this sense of no one’s watching. Whereas on Young Enough, we felt overwhelmed by the sense of: people are watching. It was such a condensed turnaround of like, OK, while we’re on tour, every time we’re home, we have to be writing, and then we have to get into the studio, and we have to turn this around as quickly as possible. Whereas, on Forever, we were able to re-find that feeling of no one’s watching. It was so important to us to feel playful in the studio, to feel really creative and free, and return to that feeling that we had captured on Guppy. That was exactly what we wanted to make. Instead of like, what do we think people are hoping for from us?
The truth is, we’ve always loved both of those things. We’ve always loved both very sleek pop and really crunchy guitar music, and I think the bands that have been our touchstones for the longest have also kind of done that as well, like played between those worlds. I’m thinking of Weezer and even a band like Haim, and now Olivia Rodrigo is working in that world, and that’s so exciting to us. We love it. I think it was mostly about, how do we make this album? This distillation of what our collective brains sound like, and less about genre.
One thing I like hearing about from bands and artists is putting together setlists for a tour. When you were recording the album, did the thought ever go through your head of like, “This would be a really good opener”?
Being in a band is fascinating because you are in so many different head spaces while you’re creating something. It’s like, the writing period feels so different than the recording period, which feels so different than the planning a live show period. And then there’s this whole part of your job where you need to be like, how do we market this? How do we create the album artwork and the merch and whatever? You are using so many different parts of your brain to make an album from start to finish. And then there are these moments where you’re in this studio and you finally hear something coming together, and you have this realization of, “Oh my god, we’re going to play these songs in front of people at some point.” You do kind of have this moment of, like, “It’s the perfect opener. We’ve been playing ‘Percolator’ as the opener for like 10 years, we finally wrote a song that’s gonna be as effective as an opener.” It’s so exciting, but I also think it can be a little bit dangerous, right? We’ve always believed that you have to make the songs the best they can possibly be, and then figure out how you’re going to manage to play them live later, and not let your imagination be restrained. I think some of our most creative and exciting live show editions have come from us being forced to figure it out.
You mentioned “Percolator.” Do you still feel personally attached to the songs on Guppy, or is there a little bit of an emotional distance?
Oh my God. I don’t know why. I just got choked up when you said that.
I’m sorry!
No no, that makes me happy. A good way. When we were making Young Enough, I was like, “I’m so sick of those songs. I’m so sick of everything on Guppy. I don’t feel it all attached to them.” But now I’m in a place in my life where I’m happier than I’ve been in a really, really long time. I kind of feel so much closer to those songs than I did maybe even five years ago, because I remember what that felt like. I feel closer to that unselfconscious, free person who made that album than I do the terrified person who made Young Enough. And that is a really wonderful feeling.
Here’s something I’ve wondered for years: who runs the band’s Twitter account?
Spencer [laughs]. I guess sometimes people give me credit for the jokes that he makes on Twitter, and I don’t deserve it at all. He has such a unique brand. He’s the best, he’s hilarious.
So he’s probably the one who is tired of being tagged in every photo of three guys and one blonde lady.
He’s definitely not sick of it. I think he loves it. It’s so fun. With Spencer, however funny you think he might be from Twitter, he is even funnier in real life to spend your life with. He is by far the funniest person I’ve ever known in my life.
Forever is out 8/16 via Lucky Number Music. Find more information here.
When Will Post Malone’s New Album F-1 Trillion Be On Apple Music?
Post Malone is due to release F-1 Trillion on Friday, August 16. The album should become available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and all DSPs at 9 p.m. PT on Thursday, August 15, and midnight ET on Friday, August 16.
Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion Tracklist
1. “Wrong Ones” Feat. Tim McGraw
2. “Finer Things” Feat. Hank Williams Jr.
3. “I Had Some Help” Feat. Morgan Wallen
4. “Pour Me A Drink” Feat. Blake Shelton
5. “Have the Heart” Feat. Dolly Parton
6. “What Don’t Belong to Me”
7. “Goes Without Saying” Feat. Brad Paisley
8. “Guy for That” Feat. Luke Combs
9. “Nosedive” Feat. Lainey Wilson
10. “Losers” Feat. Jelly Roll
11. “Devil I’ve Been” Feat. ERNEST
12. “Never Love You Again” Feat. Sierra Ferrell
13. “Missin’ You Like This” Feat. Luke Combs
14. “California Sober” Feat. Chris Stapleton
15. “Hide My Gun” Feat. HARDY
16. “Right About You”
17. “M-e-x-i-c-o” Feat. Billy Strings
18. “Yours”
How does Taylor Sheridan keep up with his own stable of shows? The ultimate TV multitasker is preparing to put Yellowstoneout to pasture this fall, launch Landman, and move onto The Madison while also prepping second seasons for Lioness and Tulsa King. Then there’s Sheridan’s ultimate A-lister feather in his cap: the Yellowstone prequel led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as earlier American Duttons.
The more things change for this family, the more that things (i.e., the ranch under threat of being taken by dastardly forces) stay the same, but that’s part of what keeps the audience tuning in for more: reliability. Taylor Sheridan knows what his audience wants, and as is increasingly the case in this streaming age, 1923 was intended a limited series but has blossomed into more. The prolific cowboy creator has been specific, however, about how this followup season will be the final farewell to Jacob and Cara Dutton.
Let’s get down to business on what has been revealed about a second season:
Plot
Filming was underway as of early summer with both Ford and Mirren, although there still appears to be plenty more work to do this fall. This month, the City of San Antonio revealed that they are working to help facilitate a leg of production in the southern Texas (and home of The Alamo) city. In a press release, as well, the city revealed that although the first season dove between Malta, Africa, and Montana, “the majority of season two’s filming will take place across Texas.” That includes filming near Austin, but there will also be plenty of scenes set in Butte, Montana.
As for the story, the Duttons are now at the mercy of Whitfield, who stepped up to pay those property taxes and would really like to take the ranch and might go to any lengths to do so, so don’t expect him to behave in a benevolent manner. Other loose threads remain, including resolution of violent struggles between Hank and Teonna along with with that duel between Spencer and Alex’s ex-fiancé. And then there’s the fact that Spencer and Alexandra are separated and presumably both headed to the ranch, and word on the cowboy-rumor street is that those two could be the focus of future Yellowstone spinoff 1944, with or without Matthew McConaughey or the 2024 series in the mix.
However, the Sheridan stable has grown ever more complicated with the recently announced The Madison starring Michelle Pfieffer (along with possibly Kurt Russell and Patrick J. Adams) in a series about a New York-originating family that end up in Montana’s Madison River valley with the story taking the form of “a heartfelt study of grief and human connection.” This will also be a Yellowstone spin off, but the timeline on this show (or whether it is actually 1944 or 2024) has not yet been clarified by Paramount+ or Sheridan.
Whichever show that Spencer appears on next, however, he should figure in prominently. He is the son of 1883‘s James and Margaret, and the Dutton family tree will grow more convoluted but hopefully gain clarity before 1923‘s second season finale. Speculation that Elizabeth is Jack Dutton III’s grandmother might be dead in the water following her miscarriage, but never say never. No matter what happens, the second 1923 will be a tangled web amid the overarching Sheridan soap opera.
Cast
Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren both climbed back onboard without any apparent hesitation, and Brandon Sklenar will reprise his role. Additionally, Dexter devotees will be interested to learn that Jennifer Carpenter joined the cast along with Janet Montgomery (New Amsterdam), and word is still pending on Michelle Randolph, Timothy Dalton, Robert Patrick, Jerome Flynn, Aminah Nieves, Julia Schlaepfer, and Brian Geraghty.
Release Date
1923 won’t return until mid-2025 at the earliest. That will be more than two years after the renewal landed, but this slow return can largely be blamed on the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Additionally, Taylor Sheridan has so many other TV shows in the works and more to come, so staggered release dates are to be expected to keep the Paramount+ slate humming along nicely.
Trailer
No luck here yet. Instead, here’s Stephen Colbert reminding Harrison Ford how hot he and Helen Mirren were together in 1986’s The Mosquito Coast. That hasn’t changed, either.
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