Year: 2024

Today is Valentine’s Day, so it’s only right we spotlight indie band Loving today. Not only did the group drop their dreamy third album Any Light last week, but it’s on-theme for the holiday as it’s weaved together with moon-kissed ballads and poetic love letters.

The group, composed of David Parry and brothers Lucas Henderson and Jesse Henderson, have made a name for themselves with their billowing, twang-tinged love songs. The longtime friends-turned-band-members met in a chance encounter while planting trees in Western Canada, a hobby which eventually lay the groundwork for the group’s lush instrumentation.

Throughout the album, Loving spin together themes of dreams and light on tracks like the languishing “Blue” and tender “The Light In You.” Vocalist Jesse Henderson notes the themes weren’t intentional at first, but came to reflect the album as a whole. “When I looked at all of these songs together, I realized that the concept of light was threaded throughout the album,” he said in a statement. “For me, light signifies awareness or insight, which ties into how many of these songs document a shift in perspective.”

To celebrate the release of Any Light, Henderson sits down with Uproxx to talk Leonard Cohen, breakfast in bed, and foosball in our latest Q&A.

What are three words you would use to describe your music?

Blue, cloudy, painting.

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

Like when you find little tidbits of your old self in a desk drawer or coat pocket.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Leonard Cohen — mastery of language, feeling, poetic vision, delivery.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?

I have such a sh*t memory. I just ate breakfast in bed — toast with an egg, goat gouda, smoked paprika, a bit of sunlight.

Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.

Leonard again. He played for hours and with such energy and grace.

What song never fails to make you emotional?

“Goodnight Sweetheart” by Al Bowlly.

What’s the last thing you Googled?

Google translate, I’m presently in Germany and “alles gut” only gets you so far.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

We had this habit of bringing camp gear along on summer tours, it mainly just got in the way during load-in. The one night we decided to camp last summer we chose the Moab desert. We thought it would cool down at night and it did not. At all. Instead, we were slow-cooked and the next morning when we woke up, we discovered that while no one slept at all, everyone somehow managed to remain in complete silence. Silently suffering all through the night.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?

No favorites. Okay, Buenos Aires.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Don’t listen to me.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

Foosball.

If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?

There’s a lot of pressing causes to support and they all need more than one million dollars, they require real political intervention.

What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?

My mind doesn’t travel down this road. I’ve always been a bit of a teenager in this way, when everyone is on about something I tune out.

You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you.

Nina Simone, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Leonard Cohen, Chopin.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on social media?

Nobody.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

No tattoos.

What is your pre-show ritual?

Get really anxious, walk around like I’ve had too much coffee. Once we danced to some improv riffs with Casio beats and I think that’s the right direction.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Brad Pitt in Legends Of The Fall.

You have a month off and the resources to take a dream vacation. Where are you going and who is coming with you?

A Buddhist retreat, somewhere completely unknown to me, alone.

What is your biggest fear?

Wasting this precious life.

Any Light is out now via Last Gang/MNRK. Find more information here.

As Abbott Elementary unfolds its Season 3 run, creator Quinta Brunson opened up about how an upcoming scene from the show was inspired by her mom, who was a real life teacher.

“You’ll see one of them this year, a big moment this season that amazed me about my mom,” Brunson recently told PEOPLE. “And it was her ability to go the extra mile for a kid, take them in.”

According to Brunson, it was a moment from her childhood that puzzled her at the time, but she’s since come to appreciate why it happened and that it spoke to the type of a person her mom truly was:

“I remember one time a kid being in the house and I was like, ‘Why is this kid here?’ And my mom could not put her teacher heart aside to not give someone a home for a night that needed a home.”

“She wasn’t supposed to, but it’s not something she could really turn a blind eye to,” she added.

Abbott Elementary has been a huge hit with viewers and actual teachers, who have reached out to Brunson over the past few years.

“It’s amazing to meet them because it feels affirming that the work I’m doing is … getting my heart and soul out there,” Brunson said. “And I just try to have conversations with people and just remind both of us that we are just still people. I know I make this show and it’s touched a lot of people, but we are just still human beings.”

Abbott Elementary airs Wednesday nights on ABC with episodes available for streaming the next day on Hulu.

(Via PEOPLE)

In December, Idles released “Grace” and Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez wrote of the song, “Over slow-burning drums and downtempo cadence, lead vocalist Joe Talbot makes an appeal to the listener’s emotion by way soft, silky vocals and lyrics.”

The band just put out a new video for the track, and it sure looks like it’s actually Coldplay leader Chris Martin delivering the soft, silky vocals. That’s because Idles made use of deepfake technology to impersonate Martin, and the effect is convincing. That’s partially because Martin himself actually helped make it look as realistic as possible.

A press release explains the story behind the video:

“The concept for the video came to Idles frontman Joe Talbot in a dream. It’s effectively a recreation of Coldplay’s iconic ‘Yellow’ video, but with deepfake AI tech used to give the impression that Chris Martin is instead singing ‘Grace.’

Joe spoke to Chris about the idea shortly after his dream, and the Coldplay frontman not only gave his blessing to make the idea a reality, but also later helped to train the AI to make his vocal performance look more realistic.”

Watch the “Grace” video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Brent Faiyaz is a bit of a rascal. After teasing the long-awaited video for his Larger Than Life single “WY@” with Lupita Nyong’o, he dropped the video today — Valentine’s Day — in a bit of counterprogramming to all the lovey-dovey stuff going on in the rest of the world.

The video itself also subverts expectations, playing Inception-ish games with viewers’ perceptions. On one level, it depicts a somewhat romantic road trip with Nyong’o that turns into a video shoot, where the two stars share a coffee and flirt as depicted in yesterday’s trailer. But then, just when it looks like Brent is about to seal the deal with a kiss, it’s revealed to all be a dream. Faiyaz just fell asleep watching late-night TV, on which Lupita is about to sit down for an interview with a Jimmy Fallon analog — or is she? The camera pulls out one more time to reveal one last twist, leaving the question of what parts were “real” lingering like a still-spinning top.

You may soon be seeing the Marvel star on late-night a bunch yourself, as the rollout for her upcoming blockbuster A Quiet Place: Day One kicked off (heh) a few days ago during the Super Bowl, with the film itself hitting theaters on June 28.

Watch Brent Faiyaz’s “WY@” video up top.

Travis Kelce is having a pretty good week. The All-Pro tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, celebrated with his pop star girlfriend (you might have heard of her), and now he’s getting day-drunk and singing a Garth Brooks song at a parade. It doesn’t get much better than that.

It does, however, get better than his singing voice.

Kelce covered dive bar favorite “Friends In Low Places” by Garth Brooks during the team’s victory parade in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, but he a) had to read the lyrics off his phone, and b) still stumbled through the words. Swift wasn’t there to provide singing lessons, either: she’s preparing for the next date on her Eras Tour in Melbourne, Australia. She’ll then head to Sydney, an important city in Swiftie lore.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Kelce talked to CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson about his relationship with Swift. “It’s been nothing but fun,” he said. “We’ve both been learning about this lifestyle knowing I’ve brought her into the football world. It’s been an unexpected ride that I’ve just been having a blast with.”

Kelce is expected to be “joining Taylor on her tour and traveling with her,” but probably (hopefully) not singing any songs with her.

Pearl Jam is going on tour, thanks to their recently announced new album, Dark Matter. If you’re looking to buy tickets, here’s what to know about how much it’ll cost you.

How Much Are Tickets For Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter Tour?

On SeatGeek, the majority of least expensive tickets at different venues are between $300 and $400. The two Vancouver shows go as low as $290, while the Madison Square Garden concerts are $808 and the Fenway Park shows are an astounding $2,920.

There’s still the option to not buy from the secondhand market, though: There’s a registration sale at shops.ticketmasterpartners.com/pearl-jam. For the North American concerts, customers must be registered by February 18 at 11:59 p.m. PT, or by February 18 at 11:59 p.m. local time for the Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand shows.

Pearl Jam 2024 Tour Dates: Dark Matter World Tour

05/04 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
05/06 — Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
05/10 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
05/13 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
05/16 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
05/18 — Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
05/21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
05/22 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
05/25 — Napa Valley, CA @ BottleRock Festival
05/28 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
05/30 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
06/22 — Dublin, IE @ Marlay Park
06/25 — Manchester, UK @ Manchester Co-Op Arena
06/29 — London, UK @ Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
07/02 — Berlin, DE @ Waldbühne
07/03 — Berlin, DE @ Waldbühne
07/06 — Barcelona, ES @ Palau Sant Jordi
07/08 — Barcelona, ES @ Palau Sant Jordi
07/11 — Madrid, SE @ Mad Cool Festival
07/13 — Lisbon, PT @ NOS Alive Festival
08/22 — Missoula, MT @ Washington-Grizzly Stadium
08/26 — Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Music Center
08/29 — Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field
08/31 — Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field
09/03 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
09/04 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
09/07 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
09/09 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
09/12 — Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
09/15 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
09/17 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
11/08 — Auckland, NZ @ Go Media Stadium Mt Smart
11/13 — Gold Coast, AU @ Heritage Bank Stadium
11/16 — Melbourne, AU @ Marvel Stadium
11/21 — Sydney, AU @ Giants Stadium

Justice dropped the music video for their latest single, “Generator,” and it is sure to raise some eyebrows. Directed by Léa Ceheivi, it focuses on a sexual encounter between two “humanoid robots” with realistic faces to serve as a commentary about technology, sexuality, and culture of the past and present.

Because of the content, the video is also currently age-restricted on YouTube, so the robots truly are stripping down to their… wires?

“I think we were excited about the idea of replicating a phenomenon from the 2000s, such as a sex tape, but with a twist,” Ceheivi shared in a statement, via MixMag. “The rough aesthetic of it, the lack of control. So yes, in our world, AI robots can also have sex, and orgasm – ‘la petite mort.’’’

“Generator” serves as the second single from Justice’s recently-announced next album, Hyperdrama, which is set to drop in April. The first lead track was “One Night/All Night,” which featured Tame Impala.

The same month that Justice will release their new album, they will also perform during both weekends at Coachella this year — which has only raised the level of fan excitement.

Check out Justice’s music video for “Generator” (if that’s something you’re prepared to see) here.

Hyperdrama is out 4/26 via Ed Banger Records/Because Music. Find more information here.

Road House is a movie about all-out brawls, and that appears to be what’s happening behind-the-scenes, too. Not literally, of course, but figuratively, as director Doug Liman has been publicly calling out Amazon by boycotting his own film.

The trouble began in late 2023 when the fight to give the Road House remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal a theatrical release started ratcheting up. Producer Joel Silver was reportedly ousted under bizarre circumstances stemming from internal friction over the streaming release strategy, and not long after, Liman and Gyllenhaal reportedly screened the movie on Jeff Bezos’ yacht in a fruitless effort to get the film in theaters.

As the film prepared for its upcoming SXSW premiere, Liman penned an open letter in Deadline blasting Amazon for refusing to budge from the film’s streaming release:

The facts: I signed up to make a theatrical motion picture for MGM. Amazon bought MGM. Amazon said make a great film and we will see what happens. I made a great film.

We made Road House a “smash hit” – Amazon’s words not mine, btw. Road House tested higher than my biggest box office hit, Mr. and Mrs Smith. It tested higher than Bourne Identity, which spawned four sequels. I’m told the press response has been Amazon’s best since they bought MGM.

According to Liman, Amazon didn’t budge.

“What else could I have delivered to the studio? Nothing, it turns out,” he wrote. “Because contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas. Amazon will exclusively stream Road House on Amazon’s Prime. Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”

However, a new report from Variety paints a different picture of what happened during the MGM purchase:

Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke quickly salvaged it and was poised to greenlight the film with a cast that also included Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior and Lukas Gage. Sources familiar with the negotiations say the filmmakers and Gyllenhaal were given a choice: Make the film for $60 million and get a theatrical release or take $85 million and go streaming only. They opted for the latter.

“They all took the money,” says one knowledgeable source.

That certainly raises eyebrows about Liman’s boycott, and according to Variety, the team behind Road House is not happy with the director.

“It’s so disrespectful to everyone who worked hard on it,” a source involved with the production said. “It’s a great big fun streaming movie.”

Road House makes its streaming debut March 21 on Prime Video.

(Via Variety)

With a mission of creating eye-opening experiences that turn attendees on to new ways of living, Envision Festival provides tools that can be integrated into our lives as we blossom into our higher selves. Sounds pretty lit, right? On March 4-11th, the festival will return to the lush jungle canopies of Uvita, Costa Rica where over 10,000 people from around the world will gather for seven days of an unparalleled celebration centered around sustainability, health, movement, education, art, music, and spirituality.

Not only is Envision Festival a spiritual awakening, but it’s also one of the world’s most epic parties. To prepare this year’s attendees – and make the people who slacked on tickets jealous – the festival has dropped its official 2024 trailer. From the famous sunset drum circles to dancefloor euphoria, scroll down to watch the official Envision Festival 2024 trailer and start your countdown to this world-renowned hedonistic jungle party.

General admission tickets are 94% sold out while VIP tickets are 97% sold out. Secure your tickets before they sell out here.

Following his comprehensive Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, Usher is developing a television series inspired by his music, as reported by Variety. The legendary entertainer is partnering with Universal Content Productions, a division of Universal Studio Group, to create the drama series.

Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Katie Zucker, and Kenny Meiselas are tapped as the series’ executive producers.

“My 30-year catalog has resonated with so many people no matter where they were in their lives,” Usher said in a statement. “I’m happy to be working with UCP to bring the music to life. I hope the series resonates with you the way my music continues to.”

According to the as-yet-untitled show’s logline, the series will tell stories of “Black love in Atlanta and individuals looking to find a place to call home.” Additionally, the show will also “explore music, style, sex, romance, and secrets that threaten to tear relationships apart.”

In addition to the screen, Usher will bring his three-decade catalog to the stage, beginning this August, once he embarks on his Past Present Future tour. The tour is set to kick off in Washington DC, and will hit 24 cities, including Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and Atlanta — where it all began.