Category: News

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Lil Yachty make a left turn and Chlöe pivot away from revenge. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

Lil Yachty — “Say Something”

Lil Yachty shocked the music world last week (despite a warning from over a year ago) with Let’s Start Here, a new album that sees Yachty going in a new-to-him psychedelic rock direction. He mirrored that vibe in his appropriately trippy video for “Say Something.”

Chlöe — “Pray It Away”

Chlöe made some noise by announcing In Pieces recently, and then continued the rollout with “Pray It Away.” Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez notes of the track, “On the first piece of In Pieces, Chlöe recovers from a broken heart by getting in touch with her spirituality. Initially, she is angry and vengeful over a man who did her dirty. But instead of exacting revenge, she chooses to pray the hurt and the heartache away.”

Rosalía — “LLYLM”

Rosalía takes an organic approach on “LLYLM,” which is propelled along with handclap-driven percussion. She even busts out some English here, too, singing on the hook, “I don’t need honesty / Baby, lie like you love me, lie like you love me / Cover me in a dream, I’ll be yours or fantasy / Who needs the honesty?”

Cordae — “Two Tens” Feat. Anderson .Paak

Cordae and .Paak apparently recorded enough songs together for an EP. Who knows if all that music will ever surface, but some of it has. Last week, the pair dropped “Two Tens,” a smooth new tune that sees the pair going back and forth in a most delightful way.

Sam Smith — “I’m Not Here To Make Friends”

Sam Smith found an ally in Kim Petras, who helped him land a No. 1 single recently with “Unholy.” In other areas of his life, though, he doesn’t need anybody else, as he declared on a song that borrows its title from the mouths of countless reality show contestants, “I’m Not Here To Make Friends” (although Calvin Harris, presumably at least an acquaintance, co-wrote this one).

Zach Bryan — “Dawns” Feat. Maggie Rogers

A couple weeks ago, Bryan put some pressure on the Philadelphia Eagles: He declared that if the team beat the New York Giants in the NFL playoffs, he’d drop “Dawns,” a fan-favorite that hadn’t yet been given an official release. Well, the birds pulled through, and sure enough, Bryan released the Maggie Rogers-featuring tune, a heartbreaking rock ballad.

Rich Brian — “Sundance Freestyle”

Rich Brian is in movie star mode right now, as his film Jamojaya recently debuted at Sundance. Music is part of the equation, too, though, as much like himself IRL, in the movie, he plays an up-and-coming Indonesian rapper. So, to coincide with the film, he dropped “Sundance Freestyle” last week, a quick-hitter accompanied by a comedic video.

The Kid Laroi — “Love Again”

Laroi will continue to establish himself as a star with The First Time, his upcoming album. He continued teasing the LP last week with “Love Again,” an acoustic guiter-driven track, on which he wonders whether a past love will find their way back into his life.

Gorillaz — “Silent Running” Feat. Adeleye Omotayo

Gorillaz are on a productive streak and it’s set to culminate next month with Cracker Island, a new album. On the new “Silent Running,” Uproxx’s Alex Gonzalez says the band “recalls a hypnotic love, as they fall through an intoxicating wormhole in their mind,” adding, “Adeleye Omotayo adds some smooth, seductive vocals to the song, glistening the background, and giving it a magical touch.”

Ava Max — “One Of Us”

Diamonds & Dancefloors tragically leaked last year, months before its release date, but fans who honored Max’s intentions and waited for the album to drop were treated to its official release last week. Max also dropped a visual for “One Of Us,” a driving pop banger on which Max contrasts her passion with the relative lack of it from the other half of a relationship.

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

An upcoming Michael Jackson biopic has found its star in the controversial singer’s nephew, Jafar Jackson, according to Deadline. The film is to be directed by Antoine Fuqua, who most recently directed the Will Smith movie Emancipation and posted the confirmation on Instagram.

Michael is being produced by the Jackson estate and Graham King, who also produced the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. That film grossed over $900 million worldwide and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Star Rami Malek won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Jafar Jackson is the son of Michael’s older brother Jermaine and is a singer and songwriter in his own right.

The bio has a tricky narrative needle to thread. Obviously, the estate’s involvement offers a layer of authenticity, especially as the estate controls the rights to Jackson’s catalog. However, the estate is also notoriously protective of the late star’s image; this leads to questions of how his more controversial aspects may be depicted.

If the producers decide to delve deeply into the child sexual abuse accusations against Jackson, they might have to do so without the family’s approval — and thus, without the singer’s music. However, judging from the reception of past biopics (they are all the rage right now, aren’t they?), if those thorny topics are avoided, the film could face greater scrutiny and criticism.

Hopefully, Fuqua will be up to the task. For now, he’s focusing on The Equalizer 3 with Denzel Washington.

Yves Tumor has announced his new album, which has the long title Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds).

The album is set to arrive this spring, after Yves dropped the grungy, existential track “God Is A Circle” last November.

Ahead of Hot Between Worlds, Yves has dropped a new single, “Echolalia,” a dreamy, psychedelic track on which he recalls an intoxicating love. In the song’s accompanying visual, he is seen confronting different versions of himself, in various frightening situations.

According to a release accompanied by the album announcement, the upcoming album is Yves’ “most intimate and personal statement to date, guiding the listener through a conceptually manifold spiritual journey — circuitously weaving darkness to light, pop to innovation, cacophony to church-like calm.” The album features production by Noah Goldstein and was mixed by Alan Moulder.

The album will be supported by an international tour, for which you can buy tickets here beginning Wednesday, February 1.

You can see the video for “Echolalia” above and the album artwork and full list of tour dates below.

04/25 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee^
04/27 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live^
04/28 – Austin, TX @ Austin Psych Fest
04/29 – Dallas, TX @ The Factory^
05/01 – New Orleans, LA @ The Joy Theater ^
05/02 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern^
05/04 – Washington DC @ Echostage Washington*
05/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall*
05/06 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom*
05/07 – Montreal, QC @ MTelus*
05/09 – Toronto, ON @ History%
05/10 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic%
05/12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera%
05/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave%
05/15 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre%
05/17 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
05/18 – Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue Theatre #
05/20 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo#
05/21 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater #
05/23 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield #
06/02 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/04 – Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz
06/07 – Madrid, ES @ Shoko
06/09 – Madrid, ES @ Primavera Sound Madrid
06/10 – Porto, PT @ NOS Primavera Sound
11/07 – Prague, CZ @ Roxy%
11/09 – Warsaw, PL @ Progresja%
11/11 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan%
11/12 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega%
11/14 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso%
11/17 – Berlin, DE @ Huxleys%
11/21 – Paris, FR @ Elysee Montmartre%
11/24 – Manchester UK @ New Century Hall%
11/26 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy Glasgow%
11/27 – Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia%

^ with Izzy Spears
* with Frost Children
% with Nation
# with Evanora Unlimited

Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) is out 3/17 via Warp Records. Pre-save it here.

Camilo responded to reports that he was raising his daughter Índigo as a non-binary child. On Saturday (January 28), the Colombian pop star dispelled the rumors while showing his support for the LGBTQ+ community.

During an interview in October 2021, Camilo referred to his then-unborn daughter as “hije,” which is the gender-neutral term for “child” in Spanish. In April of last year, Camilo became a father when his wife, Evaluna Montaner, gave birth to Índigo. At the top of this year, that old interview resurfaced with claims that the couple was raising a non-binary baby. In a statement in his Instagram stories, Camilo denied the rumors.

“Several days ago we have been receiving a flurry of questions and intensity from the media and especially from gossip shows about alleged news claiming that we had decided that our daughter would be recognized as non-binary,” Camilo wrote in Spanish. “We deeply respect the people who make this decision, but it is not our case. They took some videos of interviews where we referred to Índigo in a neutral way out of context because, until the day she was born, we never knew her sex because we never did an ultrasound.”

Non-binary is when a person doesn’t identify with the gender binary of being a man or a woman. Janelle Monáe and Sam Smith identify as non-binary. Camilo used his statement to highlight the difficulties that queer people can face from just trying to live their truths. Camilo is known for spreading love and positive messages in his music. His statement also exemplified that compassion.

“We began to think about how people from the LGBTQ+ community might feel, for example, in the face of a world that points at them, judging them, with fingers pointing and condemning them,” Camilo wrote. “Imagine how intense and complex it can be for a person going through such a process to recognize who they are, and finding themselves with a society full of stones in their hands waiting for the first sign to throw them.”

“We believe and strive to create a world and a future where we create more ways to love each other, recognize each other, respect each other, and embrace each other with our differences.”

Even if you haven’t been watching HBO Max’s tense new sci-fi thriller The Last Of Us every Sunday, you may have noticed an uptick in online discussion about Linda Rondstadt thanks to her rendition of “Long, Long Time” from last night’s emotional third episode.

The episode, which departs from the show’s usual protagonists for something of a bottle episode featuring another pair of survivors, uses the song to significant effect, with guest stars Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett both taking a whack at it on piano and ending the show with the original recording, allowing both sets of survivors to bond over the ballad.

The show’s popularity is highlighted by the increase in search traffic for Rondstadt’s name on Google; according to Google Trends, searches went from almost zero the day before, increasing by over 100 percent since the show aired. It seems that the question on everyone’s mind is:

Who Is Linda Rondstadt?

To put it short, Rondstadt is an accomplished singer who recorded more than 20 albums in a diverse array of genres, from American classics to light opera to Latin. She’s won 11 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, and an Emmy Award. She was also awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Depending on how old you are, you might remember her No. 1 hit “You’re No Good” or her James Ingram duet “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail. She’s appeared on Sesame Street and The Simpsons, and, with more than 100 million records sold, she’s one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time.

Unfortunately, Rondstadt was forced to retire in the early 2010s, revealing that she’d contracted progressive supranuclear palsy (which was originally misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s). That didn’t stop her from writing and releasing her autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, in 2013. She released another book, Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands, late last year.

But now, thanks to The Last Of Us, it appears she’s been discovered by another new generation of fans, similar to how Stranger Things returned Kate Bush to the Billboard Hot 100 with “Running Up That Hill.”

Linda Ronstadt is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Queen’s Gambit was an addictive, Emmy-winning chess drama that wrapped up nicely after seven episodes. But ever since the limited series turned into an unexpected hit that even chess dummies could enjoy, there’s been talk of a second season.

Talk, and now tweets.

“The Queen’s Gambit 2,” star Anya Taylor-Joy wrote on Monday, her first tweet since October 2020. It was quickly deleted but not before it was screenshotted and speculation spread. Is another season of The Queen’s Gambit on the horizon? What about Laughter in the Dark? Isn’t Anya too busy? And most importantly, will Benny be back?

The Queen’s Gambit co-creator Scott Frank previously addressed the possibility — or lack thereof — of a second season of the show. “I feel like we told the story we wanted to tell, and I worry — let me put it differently — I’m terrified that if we try to tell more, we would ruin what we’ve already told,” he told Deadline.

Executive producer William Horberg added, “We felt that the series had a satisfying endpoint and we’d allow the audience to fill in the space as to what happens next for Beth Harmon. Nothing has changed, despite fans demanding more on my Twitter feed. Scott and I feel really happy about the completeness of Beth’s story.”

Maybe Taylor-Joy meant to say that Helen Mirren, who once played Queen Elizabeth II, is directing a Gambit movie. That’s probably it.

(Spoilers for The Last Of Us will be found below.)

As the debut season of The Last Of Us continues, HBO sure is putting its music budget to good use. This week’s episode played various hits from Fleetwood Mac and Cream (your ideal apocalyptic soundtrack). Still, one song played an essential role in the episode’s narrative, and that is Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” from her 1970 album Silk Purse.

Episode three brings Nick Offerman into the mix as Bill, the grumpy survivalist who accidentally catches Murray Bartlett’s Frank in one of his traps. After a tense encounter, Bill allows Frank to stay for the night, which turns into several years of them living together in a zombie-free domestic bliss, where they bond over music and fall in love over Bill’s poor piano playing, beginning with “The Long, Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt.

It’s an emotional rollercoaster that ends up showing Bill and Frank’s final day (which also doubles as Offerman’s campaign for an Emmy). Frank gets sick and they chose to live out their final, heartbreaking moments together.

Joel and Ellie show up years later when they use Bill’s car, which just so happens to have Linda Ronstadt’s tape. The two drive off of Bill’s property listening to the song that soundtracked Bill and Frank’s life for so long. A long, long time, if you will!

Craig Mazin, episode writer and series co-creator, wanted to make sure he found a song that was perfectly melancholy and enough to make several grown men cry. Mazin told IndieWire: “I went through hours and hours and hours. And finally, I was like, ‘I know what to do. I’m going to text my friend Seth Rudetsky,’ who is a host on Sirius XM On Broadway, and has this encyclopedic knowledge of all music,” Mazin explained. “I described what I needed and within 30 seconds, it was [incoming text noise] ‘Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt.’ I kinda remembered that song. I played it and was like, ‘Oh, my. There it is.’”

The use of the song was enough to get it trending on social media, with many fans hoping that Ronstadt will get her Kate Bush-level hype for being on a popular sci-fi series during a pivotal episode, or at least some award season hype for Nick Offerman and his dramatic acting chops. Even if neither of them are acknowledged, it’s likely we will remember this episode for a long (long) time.

(Via IndieWire)

(Spoilers for The Last Of Us will be found below.)

Whether you’re a gamer or not, episode three of HBO’s The Last of Us likely put you through the emotional wringer. That’s because, unlike its console-hosted predecessor, the show dived into the moving and poignant backstory of two background characters who just didn’t get enough screen time in the game.

In “Long Long Time,” showrunner Craig Mazin and creator Neil Druckmann devoted an entire hour to telling a surprisingly touching love story between a lone-wolf survivalist named Bill (Nick Offerman) and an outgoing drifter named Frank (Murray Bartlett.) In Druckmann’s original creation, Bill and Frank were assumed to be business partners who lived together in a cordoned-off town somewhere outside of Boston. By the time the game pays Bill a visit, Frank is dead, having left his “friend” over a disagreement before getting bit by an Infected and choosing to hang himself rather than turn into one. When Joel and Ellie arrive, seeking help from Bill, he reluctantly gives it, revealing Frank’s fate in the process before sending them on their way with supplies and a vehicle. We never learn what happens to Frank, but it’s assumed he continues to survive in that same small town since, well, he’s good at it.

But the show basically tosses that timeline out the window in favor of a more memorable, moving story, one that starts with Bill meeting Frank — after the drifter lands in one of his traps — and ends with the two living happily ever after. Or, at least as “happily” as one can live in a post-apocalyptic world, and as long as one can live while still being human. Unlike in the game, “Long Long Time” gives the couple a definitive ending. After suffering for years with a mystery illness that’s never defined but is likely some version of MS or ALS, Frank decides to end his own life by muddling up a bag full of pills in his evening wine. He asks Bill for his help in doing so, requesting “one more good day” before he can fall asleep forever in his partner’s arms. Bill reluctantly agrees but, when it comes time for Frank to drink his wine, Bill also chugs back a glass, leading his husband to realize he too has decided to die.

It’s terribly romantic, especially when Frank attempts to argue with Bill before Bill explains that caring for him was his purpose and that he’s satisfied with his life. The pair eventually go off to bed and though we never see them again, Bill does leave a letter for Joel explaining his decision and expressing his hope that Joel will also find someone who becomes his “purpose.”

(Excuse us while we go cry into a soft pillow.)

Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Art of Tidying Up,” has repeatedly made huge waves around the world since it came out in 2010. From eliminating anything that didn’t “spark joy” from your house to folding clothes into tiny rectangles and storing them vertically, the KonMari method of maintaining an organized home hit the mark for millions of people. The success of her book even led to two Netflix series.

It also sparked backlash from parents who insisted that keeping a tidy home with children was not so simple. It’s one thing to get rid of an old sweater that no longer brings you joy. It’s entirely another to toss an old, empty cereal box that sparks zero joy for you, but that your 2-year-old is inexplicably attached to.

To be fair, Kondo never forced her way into anyone’s home and made them organize it her way. But also to be fair, she didn’t have kids when she wrote her best-selling book on keeping a tidy home. The reality is that keeping a home organized and tidy with children living in it is a whole other ballgame, as Kondo has discovered now that she has three kids of her own.

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“My home is messy,” she admitted in a recent webinar, according to The Washington Post, “but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life.”

Despite the Schadenfreude many parents may feel at Kondo’s confession that kids change things, her reasoning for letting things go is actually right in line with her philosophy of embracing joy.

“Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,” she said. “I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”

Kondo has offered tips for tidying with kids at home since she became a mom, and they’re pretty solid. But as any parent can attest, some children are naturally neater than others, and how many kids you have makes a big difference as well.

Kondo gave birth to her third child in 2021, so she’s currently in the adorable hell that is toddlerland. Research has also found that parents of three kids are the most stressed, so if Kondo has found a way to enjoy time with her kids and create more balance in her life by letting go of her tidiness standards, more power to her.

Her new book, “Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life,” focuses on designing your living space so it works for you. “Kurashi” loosely translates to “way of life” or “the ideal way of spending our time,” and Kondo says it’s about seeing the world through the lens of what matters most.

“I believe that when we consciously cherish something precious, we deepen our relationship with it,” she shares on her website. “This, in turn, deepens our bonds with other things in our lives, bringing out the best in them and in ourselves.”

Applying that philosophy to family, Kondo’s “giving up” on tidying all the time makes perfect sense. If spending quality time with your children sparks more joy than keeping your belongings organized just so, then that’s what you should do.

Kudos to Kondo for publicly acknowledging that having kids has altered how her home looks and for validating what so many parents have felt in the face of unrealistic expectations of tidiness. She could have kept up a front of always being on top of organization and having a perpetually tidy home, but she didn’t. Here’s to her willingness to share the reality, here’s to embracing joy in the fleeting time we have with our children, and here’s to letting go of the rules that might interfere with that, even if it means humbly admitting defeat in the face of our kids’ messes.

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In a three-minute clip posted to her TikTok, Fox first shows off the completely unmade bed in her bedroom, which is technically the living room.

Fox, a single mom, explains that her actual bedroom was converted into a playroom for her son Valentino. The makeshift playroom is filled with a flurry of toys, plus a rogue clothing rack that Fox knows she “really needs to get rid of.”

Stars…they really are just like us.

@juliafox

Come with me on a very underwhelming apartment tour! also to clarify I have only ONE mouse and he’s cute 🥰

♬ original sound – Julia fox

Fox then takes us down a long and very cluttered hallway, through the kitchen filled with shoeboxes (a common sight in New York apartments, apparently), and into Valentino’s actual room, which is by far the cleanest room in the house. Of course, that’s only because Valentino is almost never in there and wants to hang out in mom’s room.

And that’s it. That’s the entire apartment. No frills. Just a small apartment with the charming chaos of parenthood.

“For me personally, I just don’t like excessive displays of wealth, [it] makes me feel icky. Especially people that have really big houses. It’s just really wasteful when there are so many homeless people in this country, and I’m not really like that,” Fox says in her video. “I know I’m gonna get roasted, but hopefully, somebody watches this and thinks, ‘Well, OK, maybe I’m not doing so bad.’”

Clearly, people did watch. The TikTok has racked up 8 million views in only two days, with thousands of viewers sharing how the “underwhelming apartment tour” was a breath of fresh air.

“I am legit flabbergasted that Julia Fox lives just like me. It doesn’t seem right,” commented one person.

“Me and Julia Fox both have wood platform beds with no headboard,” added another.

While Fox was met with some criticism, the overwhelming consensus was praise for both her transparency and down-to-earth parenting style.

“Love how much of your space is dedicated to your son,” applauded one commenter.

Another wrote, “You’re a mother that obviously prioritizes your child & it is a beautiful apartment. Love you are showing that success looks different for every person.”

Life can be messy sometimes. That remains true whether you’re a privileged celebrity or just an average person trying to get by. So maybe we can all cut ourselves some slack for letting things pile up from time to time. Odds are, there’s still plenty about a home to appreciate, even when it does look like a hurricane ran through it.