Month: February 2025

Following the indie success of Transatlanticism, Death Cab For Cutie signed with a major label and released their first platinum-selling album, Plans. That was 20 years ago, so to celebrate the anniversary, Ben Gibbard & Co. are playing the album in its entirety in three cities: Seattle, Chicago, and Brooklyn.

“Plans is an album that changed the trajectory of Death Cab For Cutie forever — it was our major label debut, it went platinum, and earned us our first Grammy nominations,” Gibbard said in a statement. “We are only playing a few shows in its honor as we’re currently working on our next studio album, but we would be remiss to not take the opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary in some fashion.”

Pre-sale tickets will be available on Thursday, February 13, at 10 a.m. local time and will go on sale on Friday, February 14, at 10 a.m. local time for Seattle and Brooklyn and 9 a.m. CT for Chicago. You can find out more information here.

Check out the Plans 20th anniversary tour dates below.

Death Cab For Cutie 2025 Tour Dates: Plans Tour

08/02 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena *
08/05 — Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre *
08/08 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount ^
08/10 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount ^

* with Nation Of Language
^ with The American Analog Set

Canadian post-punk favorites Preoccupations haven’t been away for too long, as their latest album, Arrangements, came out in late 2022. Regardless, they’re back: Today (February 11), the band announced their fifth album, Ill At Ease, and shared the single “Focus.”

The band’s Matt Flegel says of the new song, “Focus…or the lack thereof. Shame and regret: waking up with it, not being able to sleep because of it, and finally falling asleep and having nightmares about it. I put myself a thousand years in the future with these same feelings. While having so many better things to be worried about, as the world falls apart, still finding it impossible to look past meaningless misgivings.”

He also says of the album:

“The well of dark things to write about seemingly has not dried up, and lyrically, it’s where I still tend to draw from. Draining all my anxieties into a song is often the only way I can get through a day. Some songs exist in a world with barren plains of burnt earth, covered in a dust of shame, dread, death, where all the things I love are things that kill me. Some come from the perspective of another distant world, looking skyward into a science fiction ocean of space, solitude, slight hope. Sometimes I’m looking around at the world that we live in now with incredulity, hilariously dissatisfied with how it’s all turned out, and assuming that it can’t be long before it’s all over. Some songs are just a reflection of me looking down at my feet while I trudge along wondering what I’m doing with myself, and if the ground is going to fall out from underneath me at any given moment.”

Listen to “Focus” above. Below, find the Ill At Ease album art and tracklist, as well as Preoccupations’ upcoming tour dates.

Preoccupations’ Ill At Ease Album Cover Artwork

Preoccupations’ Ill At Ease Tracklist

1. “Focus”
2. “Bastards”
3. “Ill At Ease”
4. “Retrograde”
5. “Andromeda”
6. “Panic”
7. “Sken”
8. “Krem2”

Preoccupations’ 2025 Tour Dates

05/22 — Montréal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
05/23 — Ottawa, ON @ The 27 Club
05/24 — Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
05/27 — Detroit, MI @ Lager House
05/31 — Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
06/01 — Minneapolis, @ MN 7th St Entry
06/04 — Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth
06/06 — Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
06/07 — Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
06/08 — Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
06/10 — San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
06/12 — Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
06/13 — San Diego, CA @ Casbah
06/17 — Austin, TX @ Parish
06/18 — Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
06/20 — Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room-Third Man Records
06/21 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade(Purgatory)
06/22 — Raleigh, NC @ Kings
06/24 — Washington, DC @ Songbyrd Record Cafe
06/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/27 — New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
06/29 — Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs

Ill At Ease is out 5/9 via Born Losers Records. Find more information here.

It was a bit of a wait, but we finally have a premiere date for Power Book III: Raising Kanan season four. STARZ revealed the date earlier this month, confirming that a new round of episodes will kick off on March 7. Now, the network has returned with an exciting trailer for the upcoming season. It captures Kanan (MeKai Curtis) approaching a turning point in his life where he will have to define the meaning of family for himself going forward. In addition to that, we see clips that capture the growing tension between Kanan and his mother Raq (Patina Miller), the return of Unique (Joey Badass) who seeks revenge on Raq and her family, and much more.

Season four of Power Book III: Raising Kanan is sure to be a thrilling one as it will build on the exciting drama that we saw in season three. There, viewers witnessed the shocking deaths of Ronnie and Detective Howard as while as the rise of Kanan as a sole player in the New York drug world, rather than one living in his mother’s shadow.

Ahead of the season four premiere, check out a synopsis of what viewers can expect in the upcoming episodes below.

In the riveting fourth season, slates have seemingly been wiped clean for Kanan, Raq, and the rest of the Thomas family in pursuit of a fresh start. However in the eye of the storm, one very dangerous obstacle looms large, Unique is alive. Unique makes a volatile and violent return, as he hunts to upend the lives of the Thomas family. Amidst the chaos, the Thomas family faces a truth that can no longer be denied: You are who you are. Although you may be capable of change, the fundamentals remain the same, and sooner or later, you will be forced to confront the inescapable reality of your inherent nature. In season four, whether the family chooses to reject or embrace the truth may be the difference between life and death.

Watch the new trailer for season four Power Book III: Raising Kanan in the video above.

Belfast-bred, genre-warping R&B singer Jordan Adetunji’s 2025 is off to a great start. Thanks to the runaway success of his hit single “Kehlani,” Adetunji found himself nominated for a Grammy (for Best Melodic Rap Performance), garnering a warm reception from fans and critics for his debut mixtape, A Jaguar’s Dream, and now, preparing to embark on his first-ever headlining tour.

Beginning on February 26, the tour will take Jordan from Amsterdam to Los Angeles, hitting stops in Chicago, London, New York, Paris, and Toronto in between. Tickets are on sale now; you can find more information about the tour here. See the tour dates below.

The last date on Adetunji’s tour sees him performing for the first time at Rolling Loud, joining the likes of ASAP Rocky, fellow rising stars BossMan Dlow, Destroy Lonely, and Ken Carson, and headliner Playboi Carti. Meanwhile, next week, he’s up for two MOBO Awards (for Best Newcomer and Song of the Year) and in March, will compete for his first-ever BRIT Award (for Song of the Year). With all that in just the first quarter of the year, Jordan Adetunji’s 2025 is looking way up.

Jordan Adetunji 2025 Shows

02/26 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
02/27 — London, UK @ The Lower Third
03/02 — Paris, France @ La Boule Noire
03/07 — Chicago, IL @ Schubas
03/09 — Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel
03/11 — New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
03/13 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
03/15 — Inglewood, CA @ Rolling Loud California

Sabrina Carpenter had one of the biggest songs of 2024 with “Espresso.” That said, her label apparently had higher hopes for a different Short N’ Sweet track to be the album’s big breakout.

In a new Vogue cover story, it’s revealed that Island Records wanted “Please Please Please” to be the album’s lead single, but Carpenter went to bat for “Espresso.” She explained:

“There’s something about this song that, if I’d never heard it before, and I heard it live for the first time, I would understand it. I was definitely being swayed in another direction, but I knew deep down that it was this song. I was afraid of disappointing people for, like, five minutes. And then I was like: No.”

To give the label a bit of credit, favoring “Please Please Please” wasn’t an awful instinct: The song was the only Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single to come from Short N’ Sweet, but “Espresso” (which topped out at No. 3) was a bigger success overall (the two songs currently have 1.2 billion and 1.9 billion Spotify streams, respectively).

The piece also notes “Espresso” was the first song Carpenter wrote for the album, and she said of it, “I was writing all these sad songs, and ‘Espresso’ was like the one breath of fresh air. In the midst of all of it, I was like, This is still such a huge part of me — this mentality and the sense of humor and the playfulness.”

Read the full feature here.

“Gelphie” is the shipping term for Elphaba and Glinda, the two leads in Wicked. There were thousands of stories and artwork centered around the romantic entanglements of the Shiz University roommates before the movie musical came out, and now there’s thousands more.

Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda, has seen some examples of “Gelphie,” although maybe she wishes she hadn’t.

“I wish I could unsee some things,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter. “I mean, wow, I had a feeling, but I didn’t know it would be on this scale or this graphic.”

Grande also discussed the audition process to play the pink-loving witch. “People who didn’t understand would say, ‘Oh, that’s so silly, they know how talented you are,’ and I was like, ‘That’s very nice, but Glinda requires so much. I have to be able to earn this and I don’t want it unless I’ve earned it.’ It became this beautiful evolution of getting to know myself beneath it all,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I love this person underneath the drag.’”

The Wicked sequel, Wicked: For Good, comes out on November 21. Until then, Grande is up for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Oscars against Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), and Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez).

The status of I Think You Should Leave is in limbo, but luckily, there’s a lot of other ways to get your Tim Robinson fix. For starters, have you watched Detroiters? You should really watch Detroiters. There’s also his upcoming HBO series, The Chair Company; a Super Bowl commercial with best buddy Sam Robinson; and Friendship, an A24 comedy-drama that also stars Paul Rudd.

Robinson plays Craig, a suburban dad who falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor Austin (Rudd), as “Craig’s attempts to make an adult male friend threaten to ruin both of their lives,” according to the official synopsis. It’s kind of like The Cable Guy, but instead of Jefferson Airplane, there’s a sing-along to “My Boo” by Ghost Town DJ’s. Honestly? An improvement.

You can watch the trailer above.

Friendship is directed by Andrew DeYoung, who explained to Deadline where the idea came from. “The seed of it came [during] 2018,” he said. “I asked someone that I thought was going to be a new friend, someone I worked with… The job ended and I was like, I think this could be a new buddy. I asked them to hang out, and I got blown off, and I caught myself spinning out about it. I’m like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I’ve never seen two grown men’s friendship fall apart in a movie in a certain way, so I just started playing around with that idea, and then it eventually became this.”

Friendship is out in theaters this May.

This spring, Bon Iver are releasing their first full-length album in six years.

SABLE, fABLE begins with the three songs from last year’s SABLE, EP and “gives way to a new nine-song saga in which one person becomes two, darkness turns to salmon-colored beauty, and sadness transforms to unbridled joy,” according to a press release. The album, “a love story set to lush, radiant pop music,” was produced by Justin Vernon and Jim-E Stack and conceived when they, along with Danielle Haim, were snowed in at Vernon’s April Base recording studio (the Haim singer appears on the duet “If Only I Could Wait”).

The first single from SABLE, fABLE, “Everything Is Peaceful Love,” will be released on Friday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day!), at 10 a.m. ET with a music video directed by How To With John Wilson creator John Wilson. But for now, you can check out the tracklist and album cover below.

Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE Album Cover Artwork

Bon Iver’s SABLE, fABLE Tracklist

1. “THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS”
2. “S P E Y S I D E”
3. “AWARDS SEASON’
4. “Short Story”
5. “Everything Is Peaceful Love”
6. “Walk Home”
7. “Day One” Feat. Dijon and Flock Of Dimes
8. “From”
9. “I’ll Be There”
10. “If Only I Could Wait” Feat. Danielle Haim
11. “There’s A Rhythmn”
12. “Au Revoir”

SABLE, fABLE is out 4/11 via Jagjaguwar. Find more information here.

Drake might be coming off a rough weekend, given that much of the world tuned in to the Super Bowl Halftime Show and watched Kendrick Lamar diss him. Regardless, Drake has more pressing matters on the horizon, like the release of his joint album with PartyNextDoor, which he has been teasing lately.

While performing at one of the recent shows on his Australian Anita Max Win tour, Drake told the audience:

“I got an album coming out on February 14th with my brother PartyNextDoor. It’s called Some Sexy Songs 4 U, but it’s some turned-up songs for you on there, too, and there’s some personal feelings on there for you, so… hopefully, whoever you’re with on Valentine’s Day, hopefully y’all can share that experience together.”

He also recently took to Instagram to share a snippet of a song called “Crying In Chanel,” on which he sings, “Shawty right here crying in the middle of Chanel / Are those tears of joy from your eyes? I can’t tell / She say things I do for her, I did for someone else / I’m just trying to help, make me feel bad about myself / Like my love language ain’t fair, damn (I just wanna ride with you).”

There are not many words complex enough to define Smino. But it is certain, unimaginative, isn’t on that list of appropriate descriptors. Back in December 2024, the “Dear Fren” rapper released his first album in two years, Maybe In Nirvana.

With its supporting Kountry Kousins tour slated to launch soon, Smino decided to treat fans to another creative rendition of the project. Yesterday (February 10), Smino dropped his Maybe In Nirvana short film starring his tour mate, Samara Cyn. In just under eight minutes, Smino brought viewers into his trippy world.

The visual co-directed by Smino and City James with production support by BASEWOOD, follows the entertainer and friend’s journey to unlocking their innermost truth thanks to a cosmic eye drop. Soundtracked by the song on the namesake album, Smino and the homies take on the challenge of let go or die.

Smino describes the picture as: “Exploring his own consciousness, Smino and friends answer the question, “Do you know why you’re here?”

Although the trailer is available to view on YouTube, in order to watch the entire Maybe In Nirvana short film you must create an account on the film’s webpage. Supporters are also encouraged to give a “name your price” donation. But access to the behind-the-scenes material starts at $5.

Watch the official teaser for Smino’s Maybe In Nirvana short film above. To gain access to the full short film, click here.