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Rockstar Games Confirmed The New ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Leak Is The Result Of A Hack

Over the weekend, Rockstar Games had a nightmare of a leak when the next Grand Theft Auto game had video of gameplay and cutscenes posted to multiple message boards. It quickly became clear that the leak was legitimate, not only because of the details in the leak but because of Rockstar Games’ quick response to remove the videos wherever they could find them.

As rumors persisted of everything that was leaked out, including the supposed source code of GTA V, Rockstar Games felt compelled to explain exactly happened and how they are going to respond to the leak. They posted a statement early Monday morning explaining that they had a “network intrusion” that resulted in “confidential information” being stolen. Among that was the early footage of the new Grand Theft Auto game. Rockstar did not clarify what else could have been stolen in the hack.

Video games leak out information sometimes, but one of this magnitude being the result of a hack feels really sour. Hopefully, the only thing lost in the hack was information related to the games, and no personal information related to employees was lost.

As for what’s next? Rockstar states that none of this should impact the development of the new GTA game, or the continued support of current games, so we can assume that internally it’s business as usual for now.

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What Does Alicent’s Green Dress Signify In ‘House Of The Dragon’?

We all know that nothing is just a coincidence when it comes to little details during any Game of Thrones episode (except for that one time) and it’s the same for House Of The Dragon. So when Alicent Hightower ditches her red and blue hues for an emerald ensemble, you know that some sh*t is going down.

This is the first time we see young Alicent, played by Emma Carey, wearing green, a significant color to House Hightower. As we learn, the top of Hightower glows green when war is afoot, so her dress color is no accident: it signifies that Alicent will not go down without a fight.

Alicent’s luck has already begun to run out: she found out that her best friend-turned-step-daughter had lied to her about her virginity status, which is obviously a huge deal when it comes to this royal stuff. On top of that, Alicent’s father Otto was removed as Hand, so she barely had anybody on her side, although Westeros will likely have to choose sides soon because if (and when) Viserys dies, her children will be in grave danger. All in all, it’s not looking great for Alicent, but she made a move that could change things.

When it was time to attend the wedding feast, Alicent donned a sweeping green dress which signified that she is ready and willing to fight with her former best friend who is now her daughter. That makes sense, right? She also recruited Ser Criston in the waning moments of the episode, and the next episode picks up a decade later, so we’ll hopefully soon find out how that team-up works out.

House of the Dragon airs on Sundays on HBO at 9:00pm EST.

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‘Spark’ Is Whitney In Technicolor

There are certain genre-modifying words people tend to use when describing a band. For Chicago duo Whitney‘s first two albums, that phrase is “sepia-tinged rock.” “People love that word, but I don’t necessarily like it,” Max Kakacek, one-half of Whitney, says one sunny Chicago day in the courtyard of a French café. “If that was something before, we were now thinking about more of a colorful palette, a lot more diversity.” Whereas Whitney’s 2016 debut Light Upon The Lake and their 2019 sophomore album Forever Turned Around could be described as dusty, autumnal folk rock, their newest album Spark is Whitney in technicolor.

The opening line on Spark‘s “Nothing Remains” lays out the album’s ethos. A shifting beat accompanies Whitney vocalist Julien Ehrlich’s recognizable tenor as he sings, “Troubles never go away, but they change / I just stay the same.” When the band began writing Spark, they recognized the world around them was changing and — though they never lost sight of where Whitney began — their sound changed with it. Across 12 tracks, the duo sidestep their reputation for pastoral, folksy music and instead embrace playfulness and experimentation on their most opalescent, pop-leaning effort yet.

Whitney didn’t initially set out to make an indie pop album. In fact, Ehrlich used to tell interviewers that you “won’t hear Whitney making a synth record any time soon.” But Spark was recorded during “unprecedented times,” a phrase that became ubiquitous in 2020, which led to Whitney making some reevaluations about their lives and about their music. The band had just finished a lengthy tour and were in the midst of respective breakups when Kakacek traveled out to Portland to join Ehrlich, who had decamped to his hometown. Kakacek’s plane touched down on March 14th of 2020 — the exact day businesses closed and the country faced the reality of the pandemic — and he realized he would be stuck there for a while. So, in the face of new anxieties, lockdowns, and wildfires shrouding the West Coast in a haze of smoke, Ehrlich and Kakacek spent their days experimenting with a Mellotron synth while choreographed pop music videos played on a loop in the background. “The way in which you can probably hear our reaction to the state of the world through the record is how we wrote things that felt strong and vividly beautiful to us,” Elrich says. “We were just trying to create something that we could get lost in.”

These more casual songwriting sessions led the duo to let go of obsessiveness and perfectionism they had clung to in the past. “This was a little more open and we gave ourselves more space for experimentation,” Kakacek says. “Being able to be more carefree about the process was important.” And being essentially isolated helped the band detach themselves from the pressure of a new album. Elrich admits he got caught up in the media cycle during their sophomore release, which is understandable in the face of new fame and “sophomore slump” stress. “I was pretty preoccupied with making sure that [Forever Turned Around] had a story, down to the PR, which also just seems like trying to control something that you really can’t control anyway,” he recalls. So this time around, they relinquished expectations while still keeping fans in mind. “It’s always at the forefront of our minds to think about, ‘Someone who knows our band or likes our band, what would they like to hear? How would they want to hear us change and evolve?’”

Whitney’s indie-pop evolution and new, breezy approach to songwriting are more than tangible on the album. The music on Spark is refractory and iridescent, perhaps inspired by the disco ball that spun over their heads while they were recording. Some tracks like “Blue” do hearken back to their early, bluesy catalog. But songs like the lead single “Real Love” and the penultimate track “Lost Control” contrast their first two albums with a groove-driven beat, buoyant keys, and an upbeat tempo. Though 2016 Whitney might be surprised by their use of synths on Spark, Ehrlich says their renewed sound still feels like a natural progression for the band. “I think with each record, we’ve always been making the poppiest and most immediate music that we were capable of,” he says. “With this one, we were just doing exactly that. And I just think we executed it on a level that we had never reached before.”

Even the album title itself, Spark, reflects a certain liveliness and panache they bring to the music. It was born out of a lengthy cross-country drive back to Chicago, when the two were keeping entertained by throwing out words to see what stuck. “[The word] embrace kept coming up,” Ehrlich recalls. “We thought about Embrace as an album title as well, but something about it wasn’t perfect.” So, they eventually landed on Spark, a title that felt true to the band but captured their musical transformation. A spark is bright and chromatic, as seen both on the colorful cover and the glittering production that ties the album together.

Underneath all of Spark‘s luster has the band grappling with some big questions, masked by upbeat rhythms and danceable riffs. Forever Turned Around examined shifting relationships and their roles within them, but Spark turns inward. “Never Crossed My Mind” is a wistful and anthemic reflection on the passage of time and “Self,” a song that sits snugly in the centerfold of the album, also offers a pensive respite. “Self” has rippling, washed-out horns and cascading vocals that cut in to confront self-isolation and the people they’ve become. It’s also a song Whitney are particularly proud of. “When we were making it, I was like, ‘This stretches everything we’ve ever tried to do and takes it to another place,’” Kakacek said. “It took us years to try to figure out how to write a song like that.”

Pondering their legacy and doing some soul-searching might have been a symptom of their isolation and state of the world at the time, but it’s a subject Whitney has never shied away from in the past. “Writing about aging and time passing is always so easy to do because it’s always happening,” Elrich jokes. But they do try to walk a fine line between being guarded about their personal lives in their lyrics and remaining true to what they are feeling. The single “Memory,” for example, has Elrich singing about confronting loneliness and anxiety, lyrics which are juxtaposed by swift and spirited instrumentals.

“Memory” also copes with legacy after death. When asked how Whitney want to be remembered by the people around them, the band first says they hope their music speaks for itself. But they add that they mostly hope they’ll be remembered as committed artists who are grateful for the opportunity to make music as their job. Even if their sound continues to change on future albums, and they decide to lean into synths even more than they ever thought they would, one overarching goal remains: to continue creating music their listeners can connect with, and most importantly, to be remembered as “good people that impacted people with their art.”

Spark is out now via Secretly Canadian. Get it here.

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Mariah Carey Is Reissuing Her Secret ’90s Grunge Album And It Looks Like ‘Another Artist’ Is Involved

Mariah Carey, after previously revealing the existence of her 1995 grunge album in her 2020 memoir, will be releasing the record with her original lead vocals. In The Meaning Of Mariah Carey, she wrote that her friend Clarissa Dane re-recorded the vocals and Sony released the album Someone’s Ugly Daughter under the band named Chick. Carey had been working on the project while making her other album Daydream.

“I was playing with the style of the breezy-grunge, punk-light white female singers who were popular at the time,” Carey wrote. “You know the ones who seemed to be so carefree with their feelings and their image. They could be angry, angsty, and messy, with old shoes, wrinkled slips, and unruly eyebrows, while every movie I made was so calculated and manicured. I wanted to break free, let loose, and express my misery — but I also wanted to laugh. totally looked forward to doing my alter-ego band sessions after Daydream each night.”

Now, in a recent interview on Rolling Stone‘s Music Now podcast about the anniversary of Butterfly, Carey detailed her future plans for the hidden grunge album. Specifically, she plans to release her version, which she found as a still-existing copy. While her exact plans still remain a mystery, she is setting something up for the Chick grunge record and “another artist.”

In addition, she is currently working on a handful of other projects, including recording a new album entirely, plans for a documentary, and re-recording her hit song “We Belong Together.”

“And then there’s a themed album. It’s something that people have been asking me to do for years, but it’s not done in the traditional sense. It’s not done yet, but I’m really excited about it,” Carey said on the podcast.

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Korean R&B Singer Crush Taps BTS’ J-Hope For His Upcoming Single ‘Rush Hour’

Korean R&B singer-songwriter Crush dropped a teaser over the weekend for his upcoming digital single “Rush Hour” set to release on Thursday, September 22.

Since its been two years since Crush has released any of his own music, due to military service, the news couldn’t get any better when it was revealed the P NATION artist tapped BTS‘ very own J-Hope to hop on the track.

Though no trace of the BTS member can be found in the 23-second teaser, the funk- and soul-inspired track compliments J-Hope’s energy and style for music. For fans of Crush, however, will notice the slight genre shift in “Rush Hour” as many may know Crush as the R&B/hip-hop crooner and balladeer.

Seen in the teaser rocking in the streets, surrounded by dancers all while ad-libbing, one can say Crush’s take on funk and soul can be quite reminiscent of the Godfather Of Soul, the late James Brown.

Just last month, the award-winning artist was discharged from the military and took part in PSY’s PSY 9 studio album by featuring in his track “Happier.” The digital release of “Rush Hour” is set to drop on September 22 at 6 p.m. KST — 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT on all streaming platforms.

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A Spider On The Queen’s Coffin Had People Caught Up In A Web Of Fascination

With Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral set to take place on Monday, the world watched as the royal procession carried her majesty’s body to Westminster Abbey for the memorial service. It was a regal moment, resplendent in all the finery one would come to except to honor the passing of the 96-year-old monarch. Oh, and also, there was a spider on her coffin, and the entire internet went freaking bananas.

According to Mediaite, the rogue arachnid (and possible future ruler of Great Britain, may its webs fly straight and true) was spotted on a card from the Queen’s son, King Charles III. While this is no doubt a grave omen of unparalleled importance, Twitter went to town cracking jokes about the little guy going for a ride on the Royal Casket, which is pretty funny. Everything surrounding the Queen’s death has been a weeks-long, solemnly regimented endeavor with the finest detail addressed to the letter. And, yet, there’s a freaking spider atop her majesty’s body, specifically crawling on a card left by her son, the newly-crowned King.

You can see reactions to the Queen’s spider below:

And, of course, the spider already has a Twitter account. We look forward to its in-depth coverage from inside this most somber of occasions.

(Via Mediaite)

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The Best Vienna-Style Lagers For Fall, According To Beer Experts

The crisp evening air of late summer and early fall is very inviting for darker, heavier beers. Especially the classic Vienna-style lager. This reddish brown, fall seasonal beer is like Austria’s equivalent of the popular Bavarian beer style Märzen (the style of many Oktoberfest beers).

Vienna lagers, named for the famous Austrian city, can trace their genesis back to the early 1800s. Generally speaking, they’re known for their sweet, malty aroma and caramel malt sweetness paired with toasted malt flavors and very little hop bitterness. While they’re made less often in Austria, the brews are widely produced in the US and Mexico.

We’re all about helping you try something different than the usual Oktoberfest-style and pumpkin beers this fall. That’s why we decided to help you out by asking a handful of well-known craft beer experts and brewers to tell us their picks for the best Vienna Lagers to drink this season. Keep scrolling to see all of their malty, sweet, warming choices.

Chuckanut Vienna Lager

Chuckanut Vienna Lager
Chuckanut

John Legnard, brewmaster at Blue Moon Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado

ABV: 5.5%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

From a small but awesome brewery in the Pacific Northwest, Chuckanut’s Vienna Lager is awesome. They have won several GABF (Great American Beer Festival) medals for this beer. Vienna’s that are done well are copper colored, medium in body with a toasty, malty character, balanced with a subtle hop presence.

Holy City Vienna Lager

Holy City Vienna Lager
Holy City

James Bruner, director of production at The Bruery in Placentia, California

ABV: 6%

Average Price: Limited Availability

Why This Beer?

The first Vienna lager I ever had still sticks with me as the best one, maybe because of the time and place when I drank it, but I still think it is one of the best examples of the style I have ever had. Holy City in Charleston, South Carolina makes one they just call ‘Vienna Lager], and I still dream of it. A slightly higher ABV comes from a nice malty base, lending flavors of toasted nuts, caramel, and slight vanilla, over a slightly spicy and herbal back end coming from the Vanguard hops, clean and crisp on the finish.

It was perfect in the low country warmth of late summer when I had it originally, so I can only imagine it would go well in any climate.

La Tropical La Original

La Tropical La Original
La Tropical

Jeremy Marshall, brewmaster at Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $9.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

There is a new-ish brewery in Miami’s uber-hip Wynwood arts district called Cerveceria La Tropical that was originally a Cuban brewery with a rich history. As many hopefully know, a lot of the Americas’ and the Caribbean’s lager brewing history was founded by German, Austrian, and Central European immigrants bringing their traditions and techniques with them. La Tropical has a beer called La Original which they say is an amber lager but it is really a Vienna lager. It is bold, malty, silky smooth, slightly hoppy but in a spicy and noble way—not hoppy like an IPA and leaves very little after-taste.

It could send any beer with ‘Negra’ on it beneath the table in terms of flavor and balance.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams

Jeremy Flounder Lees of Flounder Brewing Company in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $9.99 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Always Sam Adams Boston Lager, just the right balance of clean and crisp with the right amount of bready/biscuity touch in the darker malt, it’s a beer I’ve drank for decades and still enjoy a fresh pour of from time to time. While not listed as a Vienna lager, it fits all the flavor and ingredient requirements to be listed as one.

Negra Modelo

Negra Modelo
Modelo

Fal Allen, Brewmaster at Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, California

ABV: 5.4%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Not a lot of folks today make a Vienna Lager. So for the best widely available Vienna lager, I would again go to Mexico. Mexico spent a few years under the domain of the Austro-German Emperor Maximilian, he expressed his love for beer and opened several breweries there. In the late 1800s, many Germans immigrated to Mexico and some of them brought with them the skills and knowledge to brew great German-style beers. Because of these two things the brewing traditions carried on there and today, you will find Viennese-style beer reflected in one of Mexico’s most popular brands, Negra Modelo.

This beer when you find it fresh is a delight. Not overdone, crisp and light, but still malty with a nice roast flavor.

Devils Backbone Vienna Lager

Devils Backbone Vienna
Devils Backbone

Eric Warner, brewmaster at Karbach Brewing in Houston

ABV: 5.2%

Average Price: $12.99 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Devils Backbone Vienna Lager is a truly great representation of the style. Complex malt notes with the perfect kiss of hops lead to a really clean finish. It also makes a perfect companion when tending to the grill on a late summer or early fall night.

Von Trapp Vienna Lager

Von Trapp Vienna Lager
Von Trapp

Kelsey Roth, general manager at Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company in Framingham, Massachusetts

ABV: 5.2%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

Von Trapp Brewing has been putting out solid lagers for some time now. And their Vienna is right up there with one of my favorites. Biscuity, bready, with a hint of sweet caramel, and that classic grassy German hop character combine for the perfect beer to enjoy while soaking in those final backyard barbecue days.

Dovetail Vienna Lager

Dovetail Vienna Lager
Dovetail

Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin

ABV: 5.1%

Average Price: $11.99 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

Why This Beer?

I’m an absolutely huge fan of Vienna-style lagers and it’s a fairly simple beer for brewers to make. That also makes it difficult for a brewer to make something extra exceptional. Alas, Dovetail Brewery does it with their year-round Vienna, showcasing 100% Bamberger Vienna malt and 100% Syrian golding hops. This brew leans closer to the caramel malt, bready sweetness side of the spectrum rather than the water cracker or light spice side of the style. It’s a really inviting beer that can hold up to being paired with food or consumed on its own. Dovetail knows what they’re doing, too. They go through the more laborious mashing process of decoction mashing this beer – and they do it twice – before lagering it in horizontal tanks for five weeks.

This is an unrushed, expertly brewed beer.

Writer’s Pick:

pFriem Vienna Lager

pFriem Vienna Lager
pFriem

ABV: 5.3%

Average Price: $3.50 for a 500ml bottle

Why This Beer?

Oregon’s pFriem is one of those breweries that makes nothing but amazing beer. Its Vienna-style lager is no different. Brewed with Gambrinus Pilsner, Weyermann Vienna, Caramunich, Carafoam, and Acidulated malts as well as Perle, Tettnang, and Spalt Select hops, this copper-hued Vienna lager is well-balanced with flavors of toasted malts, buttery caramel, and a gentle, nutty sweetness.

Writer’s Pick:

Great Lakes Eliot Ness

Great Lakes Eliot Ness
Great Lakes

ABV: 6.1%

Average Price: $10.99 for a six-pack

Why This Beer?

This year-round offering from Great Lakes is listed as an amber ale, but it’s a Vienna-style lager through and through. Brewed with 2-row, Munich, Cara 45, and Caramel 30 malts as well as Mt. Hood hops, it’s known for its complex flavor profile featuring toasted malts, toffee, dried fruits, and gently spicy hops at the finish.

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Apple Has No Idea What To Do With Its Oscar Bait Movie Starring Will ‘The Slap’ Smith

March 27, 2022 should have been one of the best nights of Will Smith‘s life. He won his first Oscar for his performance in King Richard, but that’s not what anyone is going to remember about the evening. Instead, it — and possibly the rest of Smith’s career — will forever be associated with two words: The Slap.

Smith has since apologized for slapping Chris Rock, who failed to keep Jada Pinkett Smith’s name out of his motherf*cking mouth, but he was also banned from the Oscars for 10 years — and the fallout continues. Apple TV+ has no idea what to do with Emancipation, his next movie that the streaming service “envisioned as a surefire Oscar contender,” according to the New York Times. But now?

Apple finds itself left with a $120 million unreleased awards-style movie featuring a star no longer welcome at the biggest award show of them all, and a big question: Can the film, even if it succeeds artistically, overcome the baggage that now accompanies Mr. Smith? According to three people involved with the film who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the company’s planning, there have been discussions inside Apple to release Emancipation by the end of the year, which would make it eligible for awards consideration.

But other reports claim that the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, which is based on a true story of an escaped slave, has been pushed back to 2023. “If they shelve the movie, does that tarnish Apple’s reputation? If they release it, does it tarnish their reputation?” Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, told the Times. “Hollywood likes a win-win situation. This one is lose-lose.”

You know what’s a win-win proposition? Hitch 2. The time is right.

(Via the New York Times)

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All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear

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 Blackpink enter your area and two Louisville favorites log yet another collaboration. 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.

Blackpink — “Shut Down”

Blackpink have been one of K-pop’s premiere groups for years now, so naturally, their new album Born Pink was hotly anticipated. It arrived last week to much fanfare, as did a video for “Shut Down,” of which Uproxx’s Lai Frances notes, “The themes of ‘Shut Down’ can play off as a celebration to Blackpink’s power in the music industry and a big flip-of-the-finger to the haters and wannabes since their debut.”

Rina Sawayama — “Hurricanes”

Speaking of strong albums from last week, how about Rina Sawayama? Her final pre-release tease before Hold The Girl‘s drop was “Hurricanes,” a pop-rock ballad on which she reflects on behind hard on herself and the consequences of that way of being, all wrapped in an optimistic-sounding and gorgeously sung package.

Bleu and Nicki Minaj — “Love In The Way”

It’s a good time to be Nicki Minaj, who is just weeks removed from “Super Freaky Girl” debuting on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Blue managed to ride that momentum wave last week with his new Minaj collab, “Love In The Way,” an afro-fusion tune on which Minaj contributes a verse that mirrors the themes of Bleu’s lyrics about moving on.

Marcus Mumford — “Stonecatcher” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers

While Mumford & Sons leader Marcus Mumford’s debut solo album Self-Titled is more, well, solo than his previous output, that doesn’t mean he went about it with no outside help. Phoebe Bridgers plays a complementary role on “Stonecatcher,” contributing backing vocals that wonderfully help prop Mumford up.

EST Gee — “Backstage Passes” Feat. Jack Harlow

Louisville rap is having a bit of a moment right now and two of the scene’s biggest figures linked up last week. EST Gee just dropped his new album, I Never Felt Nun, last week, and he teamed up with hometown hero Jack Harlow on “Backstage Passes,” the pair’s fourth collaboration on which they continue to be perfect complements to each other.

Charlie Puth — “I Don’t Think That I Like Her”

Puth may have become a major social media icon since his previous album, 2018’s Voicenotes, but he hasn’t lost the understanding that ultimately, it’s still all about the music. He’s less than a month away from dropping his third album, Charlie, and the pre-album singles have so far delivered. “I Don’t Think That I Like Her” is a dainty pop-rock tune that sees Travis Barker assisting on drums.

Carly Rae Jepsen — “Talking To Yourself”

Carly Rae Jepsen made herself a quarantine album with the appropriately named The Loneliest Time, which is set to drop in October. If the album’s about isolation, it appears Jepsen has found a fun and upbeat way to express that, as is the vibe of last week’s advance single, “Talking To Yourself.”

Weyes Blood — “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”

2019’s Titanic was intended to be the first part of a trilogy of albums and that saga will continue soon, as Weyes Blood announced And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow last week. The album is preceded by the single “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” a lush and evocative seven-minute tune that Natalie Mering called a “Buddhist anthem, ensconced in the interconnectivity of all beings, and the fraying of our social fabric.”

Fred Again.. — “Danielle (Smile On My Face)”

UK favorite Fred Again.. is releasing a new album again, as Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022), his third LP since early 2021, is set to drop in October. Last week brought the uplifting club banger “Danielle (Smile On My Face).” The tune samples 070 Shake (real name Danielle Balbuena) and Uproxx’s Danielle Chelosky notes of the tune, “The airy vocals add to the ethereal atmosphere; though it’s jittery and upbeat, there is an undertone of melancholy that makes it endearingly bittersweet.”

Death Cab For Cutie — “Pepper”

Death Cab have remained consistently solid for years and now they have another worthy new entry to their discography, their just-released milestone tenth album, Asphalt Meadows. Among the highlights, aside from the pre-album singles, is “Pepper,” a relatively calm and reflective number that features some introspective and idiosyncratically phrased lyrics from Ben Gibbard.

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

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Lorde Teases New Music Coming In The Near Future At Primavera Sound LA

Lorde had a busy weekend, including appearing at both Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful festival and LA’s Primavera Sound. Still, during her set at Primavera, she found time to tease fans with potential new music on the horizon. While she has been touring in support of her 2021 album Solar Power, Lorde admitted to knowing what she has in store for future releases.

“Who knows what will come next? Well, I know. And you’ll know sometime soon,” she said. “When I was a teenager it was about not being a teenager, when I was 20 it was about a boy, now it’s about the climate.”

This hasn’t been the first time Lorde has alluded to the themes in her first two albums, Pure Heroine and Melodrama, but it is the clearest about fans having some potential new music to look forward to. In June, during her London shows, Lorde shared her thoughts on thinking about wanting to make pop bangers again.

“We’ve had a really difficult, painful, lonely few years and artists take that, and they process it and they make something that’s maybe quieter, or more private,” she said. “But the banger will always be on the horizon.”

A similar theme is present in Lorde’s Instagram bio, which is an all-caps quote by Joan Didion. “THE THEMES ARE ALWAYS THE SAME– A RETURN TO INNOCENCE– THE MYSTERIES OF THE BLOOD– AN ITCH FOR THE TRANSCENDENTAL,” it reads. As Lorde has released three albums up to this point, it appears to assign one to each record. She would eventually touch on these same concepts, using past era versions of herself in the music video for Solar Power‘s “Secrets From A Girl (Who’s Seen It All).”

Watch Lorde’s Primavera Sound LA speech above.