Lil Tecca’s new album, Dopamine, is out now after months of buildup. While pre-release tracks like “Dark Thoughts” and “OWA OWA” are getting their fair share of post-release attention, there’s only one feature on the album, so naturally, “Tic Tac Toe” featuring Opium artist Ken Carson is getting plenty of burn, too.
Carson’s been on a tear lately, as well; his new album More Chaos became his first No. 1 album in April, shortly before he shared the dates for his upcoming Lord Of Chaos tour. Fans had been looking forward to the two rappers’ reunion since their initial team-up on “Fell in Love” from Tecca’s 2023 album Tec.
Tecca’s new album arrives just nine months after its predecessor, Plan A. Fans on Twitter (never calling it “X”) have been praising it since it hit streaming services, noting Tecca’s consistency over the release of five full-length projects, and especially noting their enjoyment of Lil Tecca and Ken Carson’s latest collab. Some are even calling for the two rappers to work on a full joint album together. For now, they’ll have to be okay with “Tic Tac Toe.”
Listen to Lil Tecca’s “Tic Tac Toe” featuring Ken Carson above.
Dopamine is out now via Galactic Records and Republic Records. Get it here.
We’re a few months away from the one-year anniversary of Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin, Suki Waterhouse’s latest album, which dropped in September 2024. Waterhouse is celebrating now, though, with a new deluxe edition that adds a whopping 12 new tracks. That includes the new song “The Bellboy (One Last Crush)” and a number of of live arrangements and bonus tracks.
Additionally, Waterhouse also just shared a 30-minute documentary filmed at a sold-out Brooklyn show in 2024, featuring performance clips, behind-the-scenes video, and fan interviews.
In a 2024 interview with Uproxx, Waterhouse said of making the album, “When it’s all done and you feel happy about it, you kind of forget that there are so many peaks and troughs. There are moments where you just think, ‘I want to throw the whole thing out.’ It’s like making any piece of art: There are times when you feel incredibly frustrated or think, ‘Is this any good?’ That happens all the time, and it’s only up until you don’t have control to change it anymore that you make peace with it. After I made the first one, when you’ve turned it in, at the time, you kind of have this sense of completion and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s everything that I have to say about everything.’ And then, life happens. And now, the slate is clean again.”
Watch the tour documentary above and find the Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin (Deluxe) cover art and tracklist below.
Suki Waterhouse’s Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin (Deluxe) Album Cover Artwork
Sub Pop
Suki Waterhouse’s Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin (Deluxe) Tracklist
1. “Gateway Drug”
2. “Supersad”
3. “Blackout Drunk”
4. “Faded”
5. “Nonchalant”
6. “My Fun”
7. “Model, Actress, Whatever”
8. “To Get You”
9. “Lullaby”
10. “Big Love”
11. “Lawsuit”
12. “OMG”
13. “Think Twice”
14. “Could’ve Been A Star”
15. “Legendary”
16. “Everybody Breaks Up Anyway”
17. “Helpless”
18. “To Love”
19. “The Bellboy (One Last Crush)”
20. “Everything You Feared”
21. “So Close”
22. “Mother”
23. “Cliffhanger”
24. “Floating Down Confidence River”
25. “Sexy To Someone (BBC Live From Maida Vale)”
26. “Dream Woman”
27. “On This Love”
28. “Yeah! Oh, Yeah! (Live From Brooklyn Paramount)”
29. “My Fun (Live From Brooklyn Paramount)”
30. “Good Looking (Live From Brooklyn Paramount)”
Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin (Deluxe) is out now via Sub Pop. Find more information here.
For his next trick, Leon Thomas joins forces with Dylan Sinclair to update a seminal R&B classic as an Amazon Music Original. There is perhaps no song more foundational to the late-90s subgenre neo-soul than D’Angelo‘s 1995 hit “Brown Sugar,” one of the first tracks to be designated as such. Naturally, on the song’s 20th anniversary, it makes sense to have two of the current bearers of the neo-soul standard cover it.
Bearing all the hallmarks of the original, the cover sees each singer take a verse, interweaving their voices for the fan-favorite chorus, but with a lot more swing.
In the press release, Thomas said of the song, “There are few tracks more important than D’Angelo’s ‘Brown Sugar.’ I’ve always been inspired by the song, and it was a true honor to pay tribute to it — collaborating with Dylan on this made it all the more special.”
“This record is special,” Sinclair echoed. “Collaborating with Leon to honor its legacy while adding our own style is something I’ll never forget. Huge thanks to Amazon Music for making it happen.”
Amazon Music is celebrating Black Music Month with covers throughout June, including Rapsody taking on Lauryn Hill, and sample king Cash Cobain reinterpreting one of his own tracks.
Listen to Leon Thomas’ cover of “Brown Sugar” with Dylan Sinclair below.
Tyler Childers has been at it for well over a decade at this point, but he’s really come into his own lately. Case in point: Here he is performing with Kermit The Frog last year. 2023’s Rustin’ In The Rain was his second (and second consecutive) top-10 album, and now he’s hoping for a third, as he just announced Snipe Hunters.
Childers also shared two versions of the new single “Nose On The Grindstone”: The studio recording (above) and a live rendition (below). The song is a fan-favorite and already one of his most successful: He released a studio performance version from a session with OurVinyl in 2017 and it’s one in his top-five most-streamed songs on Spotify with over 330 million plays.
Listen to “Nose On The Grindstone” above and check out the Snipe Hunters album art below, along with Childers’ upcoming tour dates.
Tyler Childers’ Snipe Hunter Album Cover Artwork
Hickman Holler/RCA
Tyler Childers’ 2025 Tour Dates
07/18 — Redmond, OR @ Fairwell Festival
07/20 — Whitefish, MT @ Under the Big Sky Festival
07/24 — Omaha, NE @ CHI Health Center ^
07/26 — East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre #
07/27 — East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre #
09/24 — Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion %
09/25 — Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Cente r%
09/27 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live %
09/29 — Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium ^
09/30 — Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium ^
10/03 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center **
10/07 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center **
10/10 — Nashville, TN @ GEODIS Park ‡‡
10/11 — Nashville, TN @ GEODIS Park ‡‡
11/15 — London, UK @ The O2
^ with Medium Build
# with Medium Build and The Hold Steady
% with SOMA and Medium Build
** with Hayes Carll
‡‡ with Cory Branan and Charley Crockett
Snipe Hunter is out 7/25 via Hickman Holler/RCA. Find more information here.
The premise of Tyla‘s new song for the upcoming Smurfs movie is thematically consistent, but pretty aesthetically shaky, if you ask me. I don’t think “Everything Goes With Blue,” as the song says, but hey, we’re talking about little blue forest pixies here, so suspension of disbelief is baked into the concept.
As for the song itself, it has a similar flavor to previous releases from Rihanna (“Friend Of Mine“) and Desi Trill (“Higher Love” with DJ Khaled and Cardi B), incorporating international dance grooves and sing along ad-libs, which go well with the whole “Bollywood-style dancing Smurfs” motif the film seems to be pushing. Personally, I wasn’t aware that the Smurfs were so popular beyond their Belgian origins and Cartoon Network reruns, but maybe that’s why the soundtrack has so many Caribbean, Indian, and African influences and artists on it.
The soundtrack, which is out now via Roc Nation Distribution, also features James Corden, James Fauntleroy, The Indian Connect, Congolese-Belgian rapper Lous and the Yakuza, and Indian pop singer Natania. You can see the tracklist below.
You can listen to Tyla’s “Everything Goes With Blue” above.
Smurfs is due in theaters on July 18, 2025.
Smurfs Movie Soundtrack Tracklist
01. Natania — “Milenge”
02. Natania — “Celebrate”
03. Rihanna — “Friend Of Mine”
04. DESI TRILL feat. DJ Khaled, Cardi B, Natania & Subhi — “Higher Love”
05. Natania — “Liar For A Living”
06. Natania and The Indian Connect — “It Takes A Village”
07. James Fauntleroy — “Big Dreams”
08. Lous and the Yakuza — “To Me”
09. Natania — “Did We”
10. Natania, Subhi and The Indian Connect — “Balle Balouza”
11. Tyla — “Everything Goes With Blue”
12. Shenseea — “It’s My Party”
13. James Corden — “Always On The Outside”
14. The Indian Connect — “Higher Calling”
34-year-old Alex Russell cut his teeth as a writer on Dave before writing and producing on both The Bear and Beef. Essentially, he’s had his hands in some of the most critically beloved shows of recent years, so it’s understandable he was afforded the chance to write and direct his first movie, Lurker.
It made a big impression at Sundance this past January: By early February, it was snapped up by Mubi for distribution. Now, as the film awaits its theatrical release this summer, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about Lurker before heading to the theater.
“A retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
A gripping slow-burn tale about the thin line between devoted fandom and dangerous obsession, Lurker fittingly worms its way under the viewer’s skin and echoes how the calculating Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) insinuates himself within Oliver’s (Archie Madekwe) inner circle. Forced to assume Matthew’s perspective, the audience is made complicit in the power plays and desperate measures he takes to retain his status when he finds his position in the entourage under threat.”
Russell also told Variety, “Obviously this is dramatized, and I don’t think I’ve actually seen any of the stuff in this movie [happen], but it’s within the realm of possibility. I’ve heard people say, ‘This is the realest thing ever,’ and I’ve also heard, ‘This is so unbelievable.’ And I’m like, then you don’t know this world. But I feel that you don’t have to have a specific understanding of this world to understand the dynamics at play.”
Cast
Théodore Pellerin and Archie Madekwe are in the lead roles, while rounding out the cast are Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Zack Fox, Daniel Zolghadri, and Olawale Onayemi.
“For Oliver, it was just so important that you felt both charisma and vulnerability. The movie would have been a little more flat if you just believe he’s an up-and-coming pop star and he’s aloof and whatever, but then we never get past that. But then when you get into the second half and you kind of expose some of his emotions, you really need an actor who can go there. And I kind of just felt that he could.”
He also said of Pellerin:
“His was actually the first tape I ever saw, coincidentally. And I was amazed by the humanity — maybe that sounds corny — but he’s so expressive and you can see so much in his face and what he’s thinking, and yet it’s a mystery. Like, you can see him calculating, but you’re not really sure what he’s going to do next and that is such a big part of the intrigue of this movie.”
Music
The movie has an original score by Kenny Beats, Dijon, Rex Orange County, and Archie Madekwe.
Russell told Variety, “We always wanted to work together on something like this, and it was so perfectly timed. He was so ready to score a movie. […] Kenny can just create any song in any genre at any time, so it was laughably shorthand when I was like, ‘Can you make a few songs for Archie?’ And two days later, the songs that were in the movie were done and I didn’t really have to explain anything. I was like, you know what kind of music he makes.”
BTS has been on hiatus for a while now as members fulfill their mandatory military service requirements in South Korea. Gradually, members have been getting discharged from their service, and a reunion could be in the cards soon. Actually, a type of reunion has already happened.
As Korea JoongAng Daily notes, J-Hope performed in South Korea on his Hope On The Stage tour today (June 13), and he was joined by both Jin and Jung Kook (here’s a video), the latter of whom completed his military service just a few days ago. Also, Jimin, V, RM (who have all been discharged), and Suga (who is set to be discharged this month) were also seen in the audience (video).
J-Hope recently discussed his time in the military, telling Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, “I think it’s only natural for young people in South Korea to take on this responsibility. […] It’s a different experience. Also, in reality, I’ve learned a different life. And in many ways, I got to meet people from all walks of life and I received a lot of good energy. And I heard a lot of good things. But also, you know, a year and a half is actually not a very short time. That bit made me feel a lot of things. In the end, I think the most important thing was I realized how important the work I’ve been doing for all these years is incredibly meaningful to me.”
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco released their new album, I Said I Love You First, a few months ago. There haven’t been any live shows in support of it, and it doesn’t look like there will be any either.
During a recent interview with Australia’s Hit Network, Blanco was asked if he and Selena are planning on doing any concerts in support of the album and he responded:
“That’s like my worst nightmare. Doing live shows, like, anytime I had to do SNL or, like, AMAs, I’m always just like, ‘When’s it over? When’s it over?’ I just want to be home on my couch.”
Meanwhile, Blanco recently spoke about what it was like creating the album with Gomez, saying, “She’d wake up, I’d have a pen out, and I’d write what was on her mind. Then we’d go into the other room and create it, and it became a song. It was such a cathartic and therapeutic experience. All the songwriting, it’s all our friends. There’s no, like, ‘Man, we’re gonna get in with this person for the first time — I wonder how this is gonna go.’ We also kept this one really close to the chest, because I feel like it was so important for it to be written exactly how we wanted it and to feel exactly how we wanted it to feel.”
You want fireworks? Macy’s and NBC have fireworks: The 49th annual Macy’s 4th Of July Fireworks special is set for, well, July 4, on NBC.
There’s a musical component to the show as well, and the list of performers includes Jonas Brothers, Ava Max, Eric Church, Lenny Kravitz, Keke Palmer, and Trisha Yearwood. Additionally, Questlove and James Poyser of The Roots produced a 25-minute musical score to accompany the fireworks display, and Ariana DeBose, who is also hosting the show, will sing live during it to highlight “themes of community, resiliency, and shared connection,” per NBC.
The special is set to air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, followed by an encore presentation immediately after on NBC. There will be “over 80,000 firework shells, containing 30 different colors and mind-blowing special effects.”
Jen Neal, Executive Vice President of Live Events and Specials of NBCU Entertainment, said in a statement, “Year after year, this telecast continues to inspire and awe, lighting up the New York skyline — this time with a stunning fireworks display near the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. It’s the kind of unforgettable national live event that brings us together as a country while showcasing the power and uniqueness of both our NBC and Peacock brands.”
This week’s Indiecast opens with a tribute to two fallen icons, Brian Wilson and Sly Stone, who both passed away at the age of 82 within a few days of one another. The guys discuss their respective legacies and the influence they have on modern music. They also discuss a recent article on dad rock and how the term now is used to describe any form of rock music. Then they check in on the Fantasy Albums Draft, which Ian is suddenly dominating. In the mailbag, they answer several emails — topics include the utility of Metacritic, a yay-or-nay verdict on Title Fight, and “tennis-core” bands.
In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks about the SoCal emo band First Day Back and Steven recommends the Chicago indie group Beauty Saloon.
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 243 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.
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