Category: News

Caroline Polachek is upping the ante on the anticipation for Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, her album due on February 14, 2023, by giving “Welcome To My Island” a video today (December 12).

Co-directed by Polachek, the video begins viscerally with a close-up of her face as she lets out a mixture of a primal scream and an incredibly impressive vocal run. We watch her casually grab a coffee before she’s crammed into a cardboard box and transformed into a griffin-like creature. At one point, blood gurgles out of her mouth like lava from a volcano.

“Welcome To My Island / Hope you like me, you ain’t leavin’,” Polachek dictates in the refrain, sliding effortlessly in the soaring chorus: “Desire, I wanna turn into you / Float on / The ocean blue.”

“Welcome To My Island” released last week and was co-written with noted Olivia Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro. Polachek has also dropped “Sunset” and “Billions” this year, with “Bunny Is A Rider” landing in 2021.

“One, it can be read as being about the ‘you,’” Polachek recently told Rolling Stone of the album’s title. “We all know that feeling of falling in love, of wanting to obsessively learn from and become that person. But on the other hand, maybe desire is the thing you want to turn into itself.”

Watch the “Welcome To My Island” video above. She also announced 2023 tour dates today, so find those below.

02/10/2023 — Brighton, UK @ Chalk
02/11/2023 — Leeds, UK @ Leeds Beckett Student Union
02/12/2023 — Oxford, UK @ 02 Academy Oxford
02/14/2023 — London, UK @ Brixton Academy
02/15/2023 — Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
02/16/2023 — Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
02/18/2023 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel
02/20/2023 — Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
02/22/2023 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys
02/23/2023 — Hamburg, DE @ Mojo Club
02/24/2023 — Amsterdam, NL@ Paradiso
02/25/2023 — Cologne, DE @ Kantine
02/27/2023 — Antwerp, BE @ Trix
04/14/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall *
04/15/2023 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner *
04/17/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
04/18/2023 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre *
04/19/2023 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
04/21/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern *
04/22/2023 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
04/24/2023 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
04/25/2023 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater *
04/26/2023 — Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum ^
04/28/2023 — Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre #
04/29/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium #
05/01/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield %
05/04/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo #
05/08/2023 — Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum #
05/09/2023 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom #
05/13/2023 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
05/14/2023 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom @
05/16/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre +
05/17/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium +
05/19/2023 — Washington D.C. @ The Anthem +
05/20/2023 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall +

* with George Clanton
^ with Toro Y Moi
# with Sudan Archives
% with Magdalena Bay
@ with Alex G
+ with Ethel Cain

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You is out 2/14/2023 via Perpetual Novice. Pre-order it here.

When Christopher Nolan announced that he was making, Oppenheimer, a biopic on the creator of the atomic bomb, the joke at the time is that the infamously CGI-adverse director would find some sort of way to actually detonate a nuke. Nolan was coming off his latest blockbuster, Tenet, where he famously crashed a real plane for a scene, so what’s a little atom-splitting thrown in the mix?

Well, to the surprise of no one, Nolan is now boasting that he found a way to simulate a nuclear blast without using CGI, and on American soil no less. Via Total Film:

“I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics, was a huge challenge to take on,” explains Nolan in Total Film(opens in new tab)’s upcoming 2023 Preview issue. “Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges.”

Total Film also tweeted one of their exclusive images from Nolan’s film.

Considering New Mexico isn’t a smoking crater, and the fact that Nolan isn’t under arrest for war crimes, obviously, he didn’t use a real nuke. Of course, that didn’t stop a massive explosion of jokes on Twitter.

(Via Total Film)

Even though season two of The White Lotus ended mere hours ago, fans are already eagerly awaiting news about which beautiful city guests will be visiting (and dying in) next. While there is no telling how many White Lotus hotels are out there, we can assume that the resort has a Marriot-like vibe with locations all around there world, meaning that there could be a never-ending number of seasons. Is there a White Lotus in New York or California? How about the Jersey Shore? There are so many possibilities here.

Season one took place in Hawaii, while season two’s shenanigans played out in Italy. When it comes to season three, create Mike White told Deadline earlier this year that they are open to anything: “You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun.” Maybe a White Lotus hotel would work perfectly on the bustling streets of Tokyo or in a quaint Japanese village town where toddlers are out running errands.

While the series has explored a wide variety of topics ranging from familial dynamics to having threesomes with college roommates, White wants to try to focus “a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality” for the next chapter of the story. Weaving in the story of Tanya’s death would be a great way to do this, assuming that her former assistant Portia is still trying to figure out what happened on that boat. That brings us to the most buzzed-about part of season three: the cast.

While Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya met her untimely demise at the end of season two, her husband Greg (portrayed by Jon Gries) is still out there, and White thinks that there is an opportunity to explore the aftermath of their relationship. “It’s possible that Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone, but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it down to Greg,” White said in the post-finale featurette. “But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens.”

Even though there is no confirmed casting news, it seems like White is a fan of checking out fan theories online, so all of those manifestation tweets might be onto something. Quick-somebody should manifest a Bob Odenkirk cameo.

Wherever the next gaggle of guests ends up, it will be quite some time until the season airs. White confirmed that after season two he will be taking a break from the White Lotus universe. “I don’t have a lot of gas in the tank. So I need to figure out how to unplug and refresh or something,” White recently told Katie Couric. Maybe…not a vacation then.

(Via US Weekly)

Over the past few years, when it comes to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it’s been all about Mariah Carey. On last year’s chart dated December 25, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was No. 1 for the third straight holiday season. It stayed in that spot on the first chart of 2022 as well, making it the first song to be No. 1 in four separate years.

Recently, holiday tunes again started their annual climb up the ranks. Last week, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” was still No. 1, but Carey was No. 2, six Christmas songs were in the top 10, and 25 of them were in the top 100. Now, though, on the new Hot 100 chart dated December 17, we have a new champion… or rather, a returning champ: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is once again No. 1, for the fourth consecutive holiday season.

Meanwhile, Carey’s doing well over on the Billboard 200 albums chart, too, where Merry Christmas has cracked the top 10 in the last spot. Similarly to its most famous song, this is the fourth straight holiday season the album has re-entered the top 10. Taking the No. 1 spot is Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains.

There is no secret that the Lakers are seeking more shooting on the perimeter as trade season approaches, and armed with the knowledge of that desperation, rival teams are looking to extract as much as possible from L.A. in trade talks. While we’ve heard months of chatter about Myles Turner and Buddy Hield being on the Lakers’ radar, it’s a different team in the Central division that has a shooter L.A. may covet more.

Bojan Bogdanovic has been tremendous in Detroit this year, averaging 21.0 points per game on 50.8/43.7/89.1 shooting splits for the basement-dwelling Pistons, and most recently put 38 points on the Lakers in a Detroit loss this weekend. As such, we got a fresh round of Laker rumors this morning courtesy of Shams Charania and Marc Stein, focused heavily on L.A.’s interest in Bogdanovic. Both Charania and Stein report L.A. has offered Detroit a package with a protected first round pick for Bogdanovic, but have been rebuffed.

Per Stein, the Pistons won’t start negotiations in earnest until an unprotected first is on the table and both report the Pistons insist they’d prefer to keep the veteran sharpshooter rather than deal him.

The Pistons have to date declined those overtures, sources add, insisting on a fully unprotected future first from the Lakers to seriously entertain a Bogdanović swap. Detroit, in fact, continues to tell interested teams (and there are several) that it wants to keep Bogdanović.

According to Shams, the Pistons aren’t the only team the Lakers are inquiring ahead of the December 15 date when players signed this offseason are eligible to be dealt.

The Lakers are prioritizing shooting in their conversations with teams, and have discussed packages including salaries and a protected first-round pick for Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, league sources, who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic. They’ve also discussed concepts involving New York’s Cam Reddish and Evan Fournier, sources said.

Given the Pistons current position — 7-22, last in the East with Cade Cunningham likely out for a considerable amount of time — the insistence they would keep Bogdanovic through the deadline when he could walk in free agency this summer feels like public negotiating and not something they’d really do. The question is whether that will work or if the Lakers would seek out another deal, like the reported Knicks package, for a protected pick considering how terrified they seem of handing out a fully unprotected 2027 or 2029 pick, even if it’s for a player that’s maybe not as good.

Tom Cruise had some (ahem) blunt advice for Emily Blunt while they were filming Edge of Tomorrow.

“We had to wear these enormous suits, which I think would’ve been great if we had CGI’d them, but we wanted to do it in a tactile way,” the actress said on the SmartLess podcast. “When you hear the word ‘tactile,’ you think that sounds nice and cozy. There was nothing cozy about these suits. It was like 85 pounds. It was so heavy. The first time I put it on I started to cry, and [Cruise] didn’t know what to do.”

The only thing more on brand than Tom Cruise not knowing how to relate to other human beings would be him not knowing how to relate to other human beings while running.

Blunt continued, “I was like, ‘Tom, I’m not sure how I’m going to get through this shoot,’ and just started to cry. I said, ‘I’m feeling a bit panicky about the whole shoot.’ He just stared at me for a long time, not knowing what to do, and he goes, ‘Come on, stop being such a p*ssy, OK?’” Blunt had to laugh at Cruise’s reply, but she was right to be concerned about the suit: her ribs and collarbones are “still dodgy,” eight years later.

Maybe that’s why a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet. Or maybe it’s because everyone is still waiting on Cruise to give the OK to the title being Edge of 2morrow. Honestly, it’s not even worth making if it’s anything but that.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via Indiewire)

Today (December 12), Bad Bunny was selected as one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Entertainers Of The Year for 2022. One of the Puerto Rican star’s closest friends and collaborators, Colombian singer J Balvin, reflected on his record-breaking year in music.

J Balvin was one of Bad Bunny’s earliest supporters. In an essay for Entertainment Weekly, Balvin recounted his first time meeting Bad Bunny. They first collaborated in 2017 for the single “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola.”

“We met in his native Puerto Rico, and I immediately learned the rumors on the street about him were true,” Balvin wrote. “He was a young twentysomething kid starting out, and I was finally seeing mainstream recognition. We were both eager to take over the world through our music and beyond.”

In 2019, J Balvin and Bad Bunny joined forces for the joint album Oasis. The LP featured the hits like “La Canción” and “Que Pretendes.” The massive moment for Latin music was considered to be on par with Jay-Z teaming up with Kanye West for 2011’s Watch The Throne album.

“From the moment we stepped into the studio together, he had an incredible vibe and talent, and our musical chemistry just flowed,” Balvin wrote. “We also shared a love of fashion, and weren’t afraid to shake things up with crazy hair and bright colors. As I look back thinking of those two young men in the studio plotting world domination, I’m filled with overwhelming gratitude for being able to witness him grow as an artist.”

Now that Bad Bunny has broken records with his blockbuster Un Verano Sin Ti album and his World’s Hottest Tour, Balvin is proud to see him representing the Latinx community in the mainstream. Bad Bunny also made his big screen debut this year in the movie Bullet Train alongside Brad Pitt.

“In each generation, an artist comes around who is an undeniable superstar that both shocks and inspires. Bad Bunny has that star power,” Balvin wrote. “Bad Bunny has broken cultural barriers through music, fashion, and now film — and through it all, hasn’t shied away from self-expression and being true to himself. I’m incredibly proud of all Benito has accomplished and that he’s continuing the Reggaeton legacy by bringing the Latinx culture to the masses.”

SZA went off across the 23 tracks on S.O.S., her sophomore LP five years in the making that finally arrived on Friday, December 9. The St. Louis-bred artist’s lyricism cuts deep, but her sonic palate is vast. From the pop-punk “F2F,” to the Phoebe Bridgers-assisted “Ghost In The Machine” and tear-jerking ballad “Nobody Gets Me,” the project can’t be pigeonholed. And that’s exactly how SZA wants it.

“I’m so tired of being pegged as [an] R&B artist,” SZA told writer Jewel Wicker for a newly published Consequence cover story. “I feel like that’s super disrespectful, because people are just like, ‘Oh, ’cause you’re Black, this is what you have to be’ — like, put in a box. And I hate that. With songs on this album, it’s supposed to help round out the picture and the story.”

She added, “It’s very lazy to just throw me in the box of R&B. I love making Black music, period. Something that is just full of energy. Black music doesn’t have to just be R&B. We started rock ‘n’ roll. Why can’t we just be expansive and not reductive?”

Lizzo, SZA’s longtime friend, recently expressed a similar sentiment.

“Genre’s racist inherently,” she told Entertainment Weekly, in part. “I think if people did any research they would see that there was race music and then there was pop music. And race music was their way of segregating Black artists from being mainstream, because they didn’t want their kids listening to music created by Black and brown people because they said it was demonic and yada, yada, yada. So then there were these genres created almost like code words: R&B, and then of course eventually hip-hop and rap was born from that. I think when you think about pop, you think about MTV in the ’80s talking about ‘We can’t play rap music’ or ‘We can’t put this person on our platform because we’re thinking about what people in the middle of America think’ — and we all know what that’s code for.”

With Consequence, SZA also discussed her heightened anxiety attached to the demands of her album and the music industry in general, her wish to “disappear … for as long as I can,” and more.

Lizzo is a Warner Music Artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Thanks to the success of the global hit “Pantysito,” 2022 was a breakthrough year for Alejo. With his dreamy video video for “Estrella” that was released on Friday (December 9), the Puerto Rican teen sensation upped the Latin heartthrob ante with the addition of boy band CNCO. Alejo talked with Uproxx about his representing the new wave of reggaeton stars and working with CNCO.

Back in March, Alejo teamed up with fellow Puerto Rican singer Robi and Colombian star Feid for the reggaeton romp “Pantysito.” The collaboration amassed over 202 million streams on Spotify this past year. The music video on YouTube added 58 million views to that global haul. Alejo revealed that he spent a few years before “Pantysito” making music that wasn’t hitting and the song’s success gave him a much-needed push.

“That song was everything that I needed in my career, and in my life as well, to be trust in myself and keep giving it my all,” Alejo said. “That song marked the beginning of Alejo. It gave me a lot of confidence not only to keep making music, but self-confidence as well. There was a time before where I was trying [to break through] and nothing much happened. That song took me out of that sad chapter in my life.”

At 19-years-old, Alejo is leading the way for the next generation of reggaeton stars. “I live and die by reggaeton,” he said about staying true to the genre. For the highly-anticipated “Pantysito” remix, Alejo teamed up with reggaeton icons Wisin y Yandel, Nicky Jam, and Cosculluela. Due to the remix leaking online, he announced that the release was cancelled last month.

“That was sad,” Alejo said. “At the end of the day, I’m not disappointed. We made a great remix. When I heard the remix, I was like, ‘Damn, that’s Wisin y Yandel on my song!’ That’s crazy. Sometimes things happen that aren’t in my control, so the remix wasn’t released. I’m a believer that things happen for a reason. If it didn’t come out, then it wasn’t meant to come out.”

Alejo later collaborated with Wisin in “Volar” and Colombian superstar Karol G for “Un Viaje.” For his single “Estrella,” he’s now joining forces with CNCO. In the alluring love song, Alejo trades verses with the guys about not needing to be verified on Instagram to feel like a star.

“It’s about a beautiful women who doesn’t need validation from social media,” Alejo said. “CNCO is very cool. Honestly, I didn’t know a song that hard would come out of this, but we have a banger. I’m so happy. When I was with them, they’re normal people. They’re young guys like me, so we had a great time shooting the video. At the end of the day, we made great music.”

Back in June, Alejo released his Full Discoteka EP without any features. He wanted to shine solo. Alejo recently wrapped-up his first world tour in support of the EP and “Pantysito.”

“My goal is for people to enjoy my music the way I enjoy it,” Alejo said. “For us to be in a concert and sharing that same feeling. I want to enjoy myself. If people have fun with my music, that makes me happy.”

After Universal dropped the latest trailer for M3GAN, which centers on a killer robot doll, Meghan McCain couldn’t help but give her take. Despite the film not being about a senator’s daughter, or anything even close to McCain’s life (unless she’s secretly an AI cyborg with creepy dance moves), the two do sort of share a name, and that was enough for the former The View co-host to fire off a tongue-in-cheek tweet.

“I feel personally attacked by this movie title and the entire premise,” McCain wrote followed by three laughing emoji.

Naturally, McCain got lit up in the replies as people roasted the political firebrand for not being able to resist weighing in as a self-comparison.

In McCain’s defense, she’s not the first Megan/Meghan to respond connection to the film’s title. Megan Thee Stallion called out the creepy murder doll back in October after the official trailer dropped. Although, in this particular case, Thee Stallion can actually dance and is a well-known horror buff, so that significantly ups her connection to M3GAN.

“Not being biased but I think they made this movie for me I will be the THEE FIRST in line to see M3GAN!!!” she tweeted before declaring M3GAN the new champ of murder doll films. “Annabelle bitch your over.”

(Via Meghan McCain on Twitter)