Category: News

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new music from Mac DeMarco, Florence And The Machine, Foo Fighters, Arlo Parks, and more.

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Mac DeMarco — One Wayne G

No, I did not listen to all nine and a half hours of this 199-track Mac DeMarco album. Nor do you have to! But that’s part of the charm of One Wayne G — it’s a buffet with a lot to choose from. A select few songs feature his vocals, like “Cowboy Sh*t” and “Goodnight Baby,” so those are definitely highlights.

Beabadoobee, Clairo — “Glue Song”

Clairo’s vocals were a great addition to Phoenix’s remix of “After Midnight,” so it’s great to hear her on the new version of Beabadoobee’s “Glue Song” as well. The track is a sprawling love song that doesn’t bother to hide its affection and devotion, and the pair’s vocals work seamlessly together.

Foo Fighters — “Rescued”

But Here We Are is the first new album by Foo Fighters since the tragic death of their beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins. The lead single “Rescued” is the first taste of it, and it’s everything fans could hope for. It has the victorious, invigorating feeling of their 1997 hit “Everlong” and already feels as timeless.

Florence And The Machine — “Mermaids”

Florence Welch is a Goddess to her fans, and her new song “Mermaids” is physical proof of why. The track has a divine texture, opening with her holy vocals against an eerie backing choir, and the opening lines are immediately startling in their genius: “I thought that I was hungry for love / Maybe I was just hungry for blood.”

Julie Byrne — “Summer Glass”

“Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me,” Julie Byrne said about her new song “Summer Glass” in a statement. The ballad buzzes as Byrne paints vivid images: “We draw the lines of protection / When our palms meet at every edge / You lit my joint with the end of your cigarette.”

Gnawing — “Clean Up Your Act”

Gnawing are not too happy with themselves on their new garage-punk anthem “Clean Up Your Act.” With jaded drawls and playful riffs, the Richmond, Virginia band may not have their sh*t together, but at least they’re honest: “I wish I fixed it early on / But I only seem to double down.”

Bully — “Hard To Love”

“Growing up never fitting into society’s constructed gender stereotypes and expectations, I often felt as though different equals bad or wrong,” Alicia Bognanno, more often known as Bully, said about her new song “Hard To Love.” It’s the perfect outsider anthem, exploding with edgy guitars and her angst shouts: “Hard to love / Hard to love.”

Arlo Parks — “Blades”

My Soft Machine, the new album by Arlo Parks, is one of the most highly anticipated indie records arriving this spring. The singles have all been beautiful and compelling, and “Blades” is no exception; her vocals are mesmeric against a warped, playful sonic backdrop, making the song feel like its own world.

Hannah Jadagu — “Admit It”

Sub Pop’s Hannah Jadagu is grappling with a rocky relationship on the brutally honest “Admit It,” a tame ballad that’s more tired than it is angry. “All of my friends ask where you’ve been / Should I think of a lie when I try to tell them?” she sings — something that’s hard to even recognize, let alone admit.

Stuck — “Time Out”

Chicago band Stuck’s new song “Time Out” is “about the compulsion to post, share, like, and subscribe,” explained Greg Obis in a press release. The frantic riffs and quick pace encapsulate the feeling of scrolling and the amphetamine-like sensation of being online at all, as do Obis’s vocals as he yells: “Time out! Time out! Time out!”

The National’s Aaron Dessner made some recent appearances during Taylor Swift’s three shows in Florida on The Eras Tour. For two out of the three nights, Dessner joined her on stage for performances of “The Great War” and “Mad Woman.”

While Swift was introducing him as a special guest for the second night in Tampa, Dessner described how lovely it was to watch “the greatest performer on earth do the greatest show of all time.”

Now, in a new interview with NME, Dessner is going even further on praising Swift — both as a performer and a frequent collaborator.

“It’s just kind of… the greatest show I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Like it’s just insane. The scale of the tour. And the music, the visual design, the choreography, and her musicianship, it’s on a level that I’ve never seen anything like. To me, it’s something to aspire to: to be that ambitious with her music.”

“I think sometimes people ask me questions about working with pop stars like it’s not an honor, but it’s a total honor,” Dessner added. “I learned way more from her than she’s learned with us.”

Swift is set to appear on The National’s upcoming album, First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, when “The Alcott” drops along with it later this week.

Country fans were not happy on Saturday (April 22) when Morgan Wallen was minutes away from his set in Oxford, Mississippi when it was announced he wouldn’t be performing. They’d sat through openers Bailey Zimmerman, Ernest, and Hardy, but then a message flashed across the screen on stage that no more music was coming.

“After last night’s show I started losing my voice so I spent the day resting up, talking to my doctor and working through my vocal exercises trying to get better,” the Lil Durk collaborator revealed on his Instagram Story. “I really thought I’d be able to take the stage and it kills me to deliver this so close to showtime, but my voice is shot and I am unable to sing. All tickets will be refunded at point of purchase. I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could.”

This explanation hasn’t served as consolation for audience members. According to TMZ, fan Brandi Burcham has filed a lawsuit against Wallen, accusing him of breach of contract and negligence. In it, she mentions that Wallen didn’t perform, and reimbursements haven’t been provided yet. She also shared that those ticket refunds do not account for “out of pocket expenses,” such as transportation and lodging.

Burcham is looking to make it a class action lawsuit so other fans can join her as well.

I’ll be honest, the only reason I saw Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is because I was interviewing Judy Blume for the documentary about her life and career and this book played such a large role in that film. I didn’t have any specific questions about this book in particular, but I at least wanted to know the gist. And, not having all the time in the world, I thought it would be easier to just see a screening of the new movie than it would be to read the book. So, yes, basically what George Costanza did with Breakfast at Tiffany’s. (Though, to be fair, I’m not trying to convince anyone that I did read the book.)

So, you may be surprised to learn I’m probably not the target audience for Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I don’t really want to make any assumptions here, but I feel somewhat confident this is true. However, I still immensely enjoyed this movie. And it just feels like the kind of movie that is going to be a lot of people’s favorite.

Abby Ryder Fortson (who you probably know as Cassie Lang from the first two Ant-Man movies before the time jump ahead five years) plays Margaret Simon, an only child living with her parents (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie) in New York City. Margaret is informed by her parents they are moving to New Jersey, to the chagrin of Margaret and her grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates very much going for it here). Margaret doesn’t want to leave her friends, but her parents tell her the great news that with moving she will make new friends (this is true) and she will keep all her old friends (this, from experience, is a lie).*

*Granted, maybe today the way technology works it is easier to stay friends with people after moving and starting a new school. So maybe kids today do stay in touch with their friends from before the move. I am open to this being possible. But we moved three times, so I went to four different school systems, all within the state of Missouri, and I kept a grand total of zero friends after each move. Sure, you try at first, but it always ends. And since Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret takes place in the early 1970s, my original point still stands.

Margaret quickly makes friends but falls into a crowd where the new ringleader isn’t the most thoughtful of others and has a tendency to make up stories. Soon, the subject of periods comes up and each member of Margaret’s new clique vies to be first, officially becoming, in their way of looking at it, a full-on adult. Margaret is also dealing with her spiritual side, as her dad’s mother very much wants her to live her life Jewish, but her mom’s parents want her to be Christian, while her parents have told her to figure it out on her own. Or don’t. Or don’t even be religious at all, it’s up to her.

I’m glad Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret keeps its early ’70s setting. There’s a simplicity to this story that would seems so much more complicated once modern technology and social media are added in. (Plus, watching Benny Safdie wear early 1970s fashion is fun.) I was hit by how well this movie captures the dynamics of starting a new school and kind of the luck of the draw who your friends wind up being at first. Kelly Fremon Craig (who also directed The Edge of Seventeen) has made a wonderful film here, one that many people have been wanted to make for the last 50 years. And I feel fairly confident this will be a seminal film to a good portion of kids who see it and for those that this book means so much to already.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Let’s start with what we know: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, two attractive actors, are starring in a movie called Anyone But You. There are many photos of the Top Gun and Euphoria stars looking, let’s say, cozy together while filming the R-rated romantic comedy. Sweeney hung out with his family, and Powell held her while she did whatever’s happening here.

Here’s what else we know: Sweeney is engaged to restaurateur Jonathan Davino and Powell has a girlfriend, model Gigi Paris, who had initially “commented a string of celebratory emojis on Sweeney’s post announcing the casting news for the rom-com in January,” according to the Daily Beast, but “now [her] comment appears to have been deleted.” Page Six has more:

Popular gossip account DeuxMoi has speculated that Paris’ relationship with Powell has been on the rocks in the months since filming with Sweeney began. Paris traveled to the Sydney film set to be with Powell in late March but returned to the US less than two weeks later.

Of course, nothing has been confirmed or denied. There were rumors about Powell and Zoey Deutch while they were making Set It Up, so maybe he just has good chemistry with his co-stars? (Both female, as seen here, and male, as seen in Everybody Wants Some!!) It’s not on the level of Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, but nothing is. They were hot enough to melt ice(man).

If this is a PR stunt for Anyone But You, it’s working.

(Via the Daily Beast and Page Six)

Harry Belafonte is dead at 96 years old, The New York Times reports. He died today (April 25) at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan due to congestive heart failure, longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine told the publication.

Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927 in Harlem, but spent a significant portion of his childhood growing up in Jamaica. He is perhaps best known for his recording of “Banana Boat (Day-O),” a traditional Jamaican folk song. The track appeared on Belafonte’s iconic 1956 album Calypso, which is recognized as the first album by a single artist to sell 1 million copies. Belafonte is widely credited with popularizing calypso music internationally. Belafonte also had the idea for the iconic 1985 charity single “We Are The World.”

His musical success led to a trailblazing career in movies: The New York Times called him “the first Black actor to achieve major success in Hollywood as a leading man.” He was also a civil rights leader and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In a 2021 interview, Belafonte spoke about the current generation of educators teaching about Black history, saying, “As a singer and an activist, I found this to be true: You can cage the singer, but you cannot cage the song. This is a very potent philosophy. The impact of art is irreversible, and I think it’s the same when young people learn their true history. You can ban the lesson plan — and across the country, we see that they are doing just that — but you can’t stop the impact of that knowledge from taking root in the minds of young people. Those who are teaching Black history in ways that reach our young people and the masses are doing critically important work.”

Ron DeSantis hasn’t officially announced he’s running for president yet, but he did make an eyebrow-raising visit to Japan this week and not just because the state of Florida was recently hit with disastrous flooding. (Although, that didn’t look great.) As part of his “world tour,” the governor has been talking to the press, which hasn’t been going well as he attempts to convince Republicans that he’s a better candidate than Trump.

Case in point, DeSantis conducted an interview with Sean Hannity via satellite where the governor looks absolutely miserable thanks to his face being pointed directly at the sun.

This kind of amateur mistake doesn’t speak well for DeSantis’ campaign, who let the governor go on camera looking like Squints McGoo and social media had a field day with DeSantis’ looking absolutely miserable.

“The reason I know DeSantis is going to lose the primary is because no one on his team thought to check the sun position before agreeing to this setup and no one at Fox cared enough to say something before they went live,” Amanda Smith tweeted.

“The only explanation for every decision this campaign has made is that it’s being run by a secret Democratic operative who hates DeSantis more than anyone else on Earth,” wrote Geoff LaTulippe.

You can see more reactions to Ol’ Pudding Cup DeSantis clearly having the time of his life below:

(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)

Just days after releasing his new album, D-Day, through his Agust D solo project, BTS’ Suga is keeping fans entertained with some special surprises tied to the record. One of which is a brand-new music video for “Amygdala.”

“So, is all countless suffering for my own good? / What didn’t kill me only made me stronger / And I begin to bloom like a lotus flower once again,” he sings on the track.

Visually, Suga grapples with a traumatic car accident as he sits in a dark room alone with his troubling thoughts, doubling as a metaphor for mental health. It follows his previously-released video for “Haegeum,” which dropped last week and found him fighting with himself — as he played both a cop and a criminal.

As for what’s next, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has begun teasing Suga’s upcoming appearance on the show, where he’ll make his late-night solo debut on May 1. BTS is currently on hiatus as the other members are completing their mandatory military service, leaving those remaining able to explore their individual musical careers.

Suga is also touring North America as Agust D later this summer. A complete list of tour dates and ticketing info can be found here.

Check out Agust D’s music video for “Amygdala” above.

Vladimir Putin has a secret network of train tunnels that run to his various Russian luxury hideouts, so as to avoid detection. One of these homes, a compound near Sochi, is said to be stocked to the brim with pickles as well as a missile defense system and a spa. This sounds like Putin paradise. Still, he would apparently love to travel abroad, an act that isn’t so feasible when one has an arrest warrant out from the International Criminal Court.

Of course, there are some countries who will not enforce the warrant, if Putin would like to limit travel to, say, Iran and China. That’s not the desired case, according to the Moscow Times, which is reporting that the Kremlin is steamed after the warrant tossed a wrench into an August summit in South Africa that Putin had planned to attend. As for any discussion of the warrant, the Kremlin declared that “[t]hese discussions naturally displease the Kremlin” while adding, “It would like them to end.” One official spoke to the publication on an anonymous basis, but he didn’t hold back:

A senior Russian government official who wished to remain anonymous told The Moscow Times that the arrest warrant was “stupid.”

“When the war is over, how will they talk to Putin? The complete lack of logic in the West’s actions is somewhat discouraging,” he said. “Or I don’t understand it.”

A parliamentary deputy is further quoted as sounding alarmed: “This is essentially a call to overthrow the government in Russia.”

Well, an arrest warrant was bound to happen after Putin not only invaded Ukraine but also allegedly abducted children and deported them to Russia. That’s something that the ICC doesn’t take too lightly.

There’s no word on whether Putin will grow publicly frustrated about not being able to attend the next G20 summit, which will go down in India, where Putin does not have automatic protection against the warrant. There’s been plenty of speculation on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would actually have Putin arrested, but it says a lot that the Kremlin has yet to confirm or deny Putin’s attendance for the September event.

(Via Moscow Times, Reuters & CNN)

Chlöe is celebrating the recent release of her debut solo album In Pieces with an exciting tour. It kicked off earlier this month in Chicago, where she didn’t hesitate to confront critics: “F*ck what the f*ck anybody wanna f*ckin’ say,” she said onstage.

In Atlanta on Sunday night (April 23), the audience was in for a special treat. To spice up her performance, the “How Does It Feel” singer brought out her sister and fellow Chloe X Halle member Halle Bailey, who’s been in the spotlight as well for her role in The Little Mermaid. The Bailey siblings performed their 2020 songs “Ungodly Hour” and “Do It” together, looking happier than ever.

Chlöe shared a grateful post to social media about the “magical” night.

“ATL love yall so much,” she wrote on Instagram. “I got to reunite with my best friend on stage and even have my own national day now (Chloe Day April 22nd) each night on tour has been so magical.”

Just last week, the two reunited on Jimmy Fallon’s That’s My Jam and sang a medley of breakup anthems, including Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor” and Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.”

Watch the pair play “Ungodly Hour” above and “Do It” below.