On March 25, 2015, Zayn Malik announced his departure from One Direction. “I’d like to apologise to the fans if I’ve let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart,” he wrote at the time. “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight. I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry, and Niall.”
Exactly 10 years later (last night!), Zayn performed a One Direction song at a solo show for the first time ever.
During a show in Mexico City on Tuesday, the “What I Am” singer sang 1D highlight “Night Changes,” from 2014’s multi-platinum Four. “It’s the first time I’ve sung that song in 10 years. Thank you. That was f*cking amazing,” he said during the show. “I almost cried at one point.”
“Night Changes” saw a surge in popularity following the tragic death of One Direction member Liam Payne last year. Per Billboard: “In the week after his death, ‘Night Changes’ — which ran up to No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014 — saw its US streams spike 416 percent to 4.9 million.”
There were months of uncertainty about what Julien Baker and Torres were up to, even before they performed together on The Tonight Show in December 2024. It was only in late January that they made their big reveal to the world: They’ve collaborated on Send A Prayer My Way, a new country album.
The project is set to land in April, but now they’ve shared another preview of it today (March 26) with “Dirt.” Like previous tracks, it’s a storytelling tune as the first verse starts, “You were shouting through the screen door / With my back turned towards you in the driveway / I said, ‘What the hell you gotta scream at me for’ / You said, ‘You aren’t gonna listen any other way’ / Now I’m laid out on the sidewalk / You’re my first dial after last call / Ringing you up just to sh*t-talk / ’til I pass out.”
Meanwhile, Lucy Dacus recently revealed she and Baker are in a relationship. In a New Yorker profile, the fellow Boygenius member discussed how her upcoming album Forever Is A Feeling is “about falling in love” and “how the tumult of that experience has forced her to reckon with the unknown.” She also discussed the balance between keeping her romantic life private and wanting to be vulnerable with her music, saying, “It’s been interesting, because I want to protect what is precious in my life, but also to be honest, and make art that’s true. I think maybe a part of it is just trusting that it’s not at risk.”
Listen to “Dirt” above.
Send A Prayer My Way is out 4/18 via Matador Records. Find more information here.
Now we’re cooking. Netflix is taking April seriously with a stream of hard-hitting movies and TV shows coming your way. So, once you finish laughing at John Mulaney’s latest variety talk show and/or need a cure from being devastated by Adolescence, there’s plenty waiting in the wings. The streaming service will be serving up Action Tom Hardy, a pair of shows that will appeal to Yellowstone and The Pitt lovers, the return of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian nightmares, and the end of Stalker Joe.
Here’s everything coming to Netflix in April:
Havoc (Netflix film 4/25)
This long-gestating action movie has finally arrived from The Raid franchise director Gareth Evans and, equally importantly, Tom Hardy in the driver’s seat. The Peaky Blinders actor and Venom symbiote will portray a jaded detective who is tangling with underworld baddies, including Timothy Olyphant, after a drug deal gone wrong. This version of Tom Hardy is the only figure capable of rescuing a city from an unfathomably tangled web of corruption, and he’ll use a flamethrower to do so. Obviously.
Ransom Canyon: Season 1 (Netflix series 4/17)
The Yellowstone crowd won’t be able to resist sampling this series in which the incredibly-named Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel) is coping with heartbreak and the desire for vengeance. Things perk up with Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly) returns to (Ransom) Texas to help vanquish the demons that plague Staten’s soul. But wait, a mysterious cowboy will be afoot, so watch out, Ransom.
Pulse: Season 1 (Netflix series 4/10)
Max’s The Pitt audience will want to flock over to this medical drama, but don’t expect this show to be as high intensity as the Noah Wyle series. Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher) will portray a medical resident in a cast that also boasts Jessie T. Usher (The Boys), and their Miami ER schedule will somehow allow them to have private lives while also dealing with high-stress situations on the job. Will this season include a hurricane bearing down on the city while cases flood into the trauma center? You know it.
You: Season 5 (Netflix series 4/24)
The final Stalker Joe season takes him back to his old stomping grounds in more ways than one. At this point, Penn Badgley’s serial killer is a coddled trophy husband, but of course, he cannot settle for happiness. He must destroy everything that he touches, and this season is all about finding out if he finally gets what he deserves. In the process, he must be visited by plenty of ghosts and maybe get punched in the nuts a few times? Okay, I made that last part up, but admit it, you’d watch. #JusticeForBeckAndDrNicky
Black Mirror: Season 7 (Netflix series 4/10)
Charlie Brooker’s satirical anthology series, which frequently highlights a technological hellscape not too far off base from reality, will soon return with what Brooker promises is “back to basics in many ways. They’re all sci-fi stories, but there’s definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way.” In doing so, you can expect a followup to the notorious “USS Callister” episode, but don’t expect to see Jesse Plemons because, well, you know.
Avail. TBA Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins
Weak Hero Class 2
Avail. 4/1 The Age of Innocence
Big Daddy
Bonnie & Clyde
The Breakfast Club
Conan the Destroyer
Couples Retreat
The Croods
Draft Day
Field of Dreams
For Love of the Game
Geostorm
Get Him to the Greek
Heat
Insidious: Chapter 2
K-9
Lucy
Matilda
The Mauritanian
The Place Beyond the Pines
Psycho
Rise of the Guardians
Rooster Cogburn (…and the Lady)
Rudy
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit II
Uncle Buck
Avail. 4/2 Banger
Garnachas: Glorious Street Food!
Love on the Spectrum: Season 3
Avail. 4/3 Devil May Cry
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 3 PULSE
Avail. 4/4 Karma
TEST
Avail. 4/7 Blippi’s Job Show
Kill Tony: Kill or Be Killed
Avail. 4/8 The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast): Season 4 Kian’s Bizarre B&B
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 5 Part 2
Avail. 4/9 The Addams Family
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing
The Dad Quest
The Hating Game Unicorn Academy: Chapter 3
Avail. 4/10 Black Mirror: Season 7 Frozen Hot Boys
Moonrise
North of North
Avail. 4/11 The Gardener
Meet the Khumalos
Avail. 4/12 Resident Playbook
Avail. 4/13 Life or Something Like It
Avail. 4/15 The Glass Dome
Young Sheldon: Season 7
Avail. 4/16 Baby Mama
The Diamond Heist
I Am Not Mendoza
Project UFO
Avail. 4/17 Istanbul Encyclopedia
Ransom Canyon
Avail. 4/18 iHostage
Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror
Avail. 4/19 Heavenly Ever After
Avail. 4/21 Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey
Avail. 4/23 A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054
Battle Camp
Bullet Train Explosion
Carlos Alcaraz: My Way
UnBroken
Avail. 4/24 A Dog’s Way Home
You: Season 5
Avail. 4/25 Havoc
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2
Avail. 4/28 Chef’s Table: Legends
Avail. 4/30 Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight
The Eternaut
Exterritorial
Turning Point: The Vietnam War
And it’s your last chance to stream these titles:
Leaving 4/1 Baby Driver
Boyz n the Hood
Bruce Almighty
Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
Elysium
Happy Feet
Happy Feet Two
How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Interstellar
It
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part III
Legion
Miss Congeniality
Molly’s Game
The Nice Guys
Richie Rich
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 3
Rust and Bone
Space Jam
When in Rome
Leaving 4/4 Serena
Leaving 4/8 Megan Leavey
Leaving 4/11 Pixels
Scream
Leaving 4/12 A Quiet Place Part II
Leaving 4/15 Hereditary
Leaving 4/16 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Last month, McKinley Dixon announced a new album, Magic, Alive!, the follow-up to his well-received 2023 project Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?. He also shared “Sugar Water” featuring Quelle Chris and Anjimile, and today (March 26), he’s back with another album preview that also includes a pair of features: “Could’ve Been Different,” which has contributions from Blu and Shamir.
Dixon says of the song:
“‘Could’ve Been Different’ is another attempt to follow, what I view as ‘the perfect closing credits:’ A summary of the story before, a different outlook on where you’re at now, and a rough question of ‘what’s going to happen to us in the future?’ To me, those make for the perfect ending when writing tales. Well, those things and mimicking the music how you would live your life: going out with an ending they will never forget.”
He previously said of working on the album in his native Richmond, Virginia, “It’s like a celebration when I make a record back in Richmond. Everybody has grown, but now here we are together again.”
Beyond from Blu and Shamir, the album features appearances from Quelle Chris, Anjimile, Pink Siifu, Teller Bank$, and others.
Listen to “Could’ve Been Different” above.
Magic, Alive! is out 6/6 via City Slang. Find more information here.
Late last month, punk-rap thrasher Rico Nasty launched the rollout for her upcoming album Lethal with the rambunctious single “Teethsucker.” That first single got longtime Rico fans hyped for a return to form on Lethal, and with her new single “On The Low,” the DMV native appears to confirm that she’s back to her rabble-rousing sugar trap-singling ways.
Over a lilting, hypnotic hyperpop backing track, Rico flirts with a crush, promising that she doesn’t kiss and tell. The vibe of the track is very “early Rico,” with the staccato rap deliveries and singsong melodies of her mid-2010s material, but with the practiced polish you’d expect after ten years of working with some of the best producers in the business — and switching labels to the more artist-friendly Fueled By Ramen for her latest release.
In addition to releasing her first solo album since 2022’s Las Ruinas, Rico is also adding another wrinkle to her career this year, making her acting debut in Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which stars Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, and Nick Offerman. What a cast.
Listen to Rico Nasty’s new single “On The Low” above.
Lethal is out 5/16 via Fueled by Ramen. Find more information here.
The fear of appearing naked in front of your classmates is compelling proof of a collective unconscious — it’s one of the most common nightmare scenarios despite almost no one experiencing it in their waking life. The dressing down Palmyra received every week in their college songwriting class is the closest most people can get.
Mānoa Bell, Teddy Chipouras, and Sasha Landon forged their friendship in a James Madison University seminar that required each student to pitch and perform a composition to the class. “And then it would get torn to shreds,” Landon deadpans, not just by their peers, but the professor as well. Landon was making rudimentary trap beats throughout the semester before sharing their singer-songwriter debut, a song called “One Track Mind”; Ojo Taylor, the former bassist of Christian punk institution Undercover, replied thusly: “Why did you make this?”
By comparison, playing to audiences at SXSW and Newport Folk Festival was a breeze. Yet, they still take Professor Taylor’s words to heart; Trying to make a go of bluegrass-inflected indie rock in the 2020s requires an upstart artist to scrutinize their intentions every step of the way, not just the how of getting from gig to gig, but the why of it all. After spending the past three years lugging their mandocello and banjo and upright bass to hundreds of dive bars and house shows, Bell claims that Palmyra are now “professional shit eaters.” Palmyra laughs in agreement with this assessment, and also Landon’s claim that they have the “coolest job in the world.”
This dynamic plays out across their proper debut Restless, which accounts for every personal tragedy and revelation, every celebratory show and lonely, six-hour drive afterwards, every surge of belief and crippling self-doubt that comes with dedicating yourself to the coolest and shittiest line of work.
If it sounds miles and decades removed from their more traditionalist predecessor Shenandoah, that’s the whole point.
“When we’ve played live, we’ve played more high-energy songs and that wasn’t necessarily reflected super well in Shenandoah,” Chipouras explains. “We love all those songs and we still play them, but some people would hear us live and then they’d go listen to Shenandoah and be like, ‘Is this you guys?’”
At that time, Palmyra were prodigal students of Virginia roots music, diving deep into bluegrass, gospel, rustic folk, and various other “old time” traditions after leaving the commonwealth for Boston.
“The pandemic started when we were in college, and so college just kind of ended,” Bell recalls. “Like, all right, everyone go back to wherever you’re from.”
Bell moved in with someone he was dating at the time, while Landon and Chipouras later joined him up north. In the meantime, the trio began exchanging scratch tracks with each other during lockdown as they became obsessed with flatpicking the way others did with sourdough starters. Palmyra concedes that these were styles of music they rejected as children, now becoming foundational parts of their personalities. Having lived in the South for extended periods of time, I can recognize how people of all political persuasions have a tendency to exaggerate territorial bona fides during their formative years and, indeed, Landon remembers describing themselves as “Appalachian,” before their friend and tourmate Clover-Lynn (aka “hillbillygothic”) checked the Roanoke native: “She was like, ‘You are not Appalachian, you live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in an urban metro with 300,000 people,’” Landon admits.
Nonetheless, Palmyra truly put in the work on their 2022 self-released debut Shenandoah, a record whose title was pure truth in advertising, raw and regional roots music modeled after the Avett Brothers, the Punch Brothers, and the Wood Brothers (“we loved all the Brothers bands”). Restless maintains some of that foundation; they’re just now running the upright bass and banjo through fuzz pedals and the twangy harmonies under a shoegaze-y wall of sound. I’m hearing early Bright Eyes in the caterwauling builds of the title track and “Shape I’m In,” a bit of Being There-era Wilco in “Arizona,” the candor and warmth of emo/alt-country scene leaders Slaughter Beach, Dog, and Pinegrove. Full disclosure, I’m enjoying this record a lot as a 45-year old living in San Diego and I’m sure I would’ve religiously followed this band around Virginia had they existed when I was a UVA undergrad in the early 2000s; a time when I was increasingly curious about Southern folkways but wished this style of music didn’t always veer towards genial frat house filler or suffocating revivalism.
Palmyra do not play act as coal miners or tobacco farmers or medicine men on Restless; Yet, even if the subject matter of the record deals in modern terminology of gender dysphoria, suicidal ideation, and late capitalism, the underlying emotions aren’t that much different than they would be in 1925, all of it amounting to, how do we not just survive, but find joy in it?
“I think that the friendship and love for each other that we have is a really good boost on stage or in the studio playing these songs where you’re not doing it alone,” Landon notes. “It’s not like I am presenting this really dark, heavy thing by myself. It’s the three of us presenting this thing the way that we have created it.”
A week ago, Palmyra played SXSW and, as we speak, there’s rumors about the festival downsizing and whether music will continue to be a part of its programming. I’m curious about your experience, since it used to be a rite of passage for up-and-coming bands like yourself.
Bell: Well, it sounds like we can go on record and say that we shut it down. Palmyra ended SXSW. That was the goal [laughs]. I think the narrative around it for emerging bands is that it’s a place that you can go and get signed or find some kind of team. And we were in a different position, just in that [having a team] was already in the works for us and something we’ve been working on for the last year. So for us, the experience was almost like a work conference, as it is in any industry — you go and you meet your colleagues that you maybe only ever see on Zoom and get some food or coffee or whatever. And then we played really awesome showcases. We did one official and then a couple unofficial party situations.
The unofficial stuff was awesome. All the bands we saw were incredible. Someone described SXSW to us as all your favorite local bands in one place. And that did feel like the case. You’re not seeing these giant headliner names: You’re just at some bar, and this really cool band from Seattle that you’ve never heard of is playing. We were on super mixed-genre bills, it wasn’t only folk. And so it was just fun as a music consumer to be like, “Dang, I don’t know what you’d call this, but it’s sick.” And now we have a bunch of new bands to listen to.
On the subject of “local bands,” I feel like there’s been a rising trend of regionalism of late, specifically, rootsy-leaning artists from the South that have a distinct, local character. It reminds me of being in Virginia in the late ’90s when, say, Carbon Leaf and Agents Of Good Roots were enormous local draws, but my friends even in Pennsylvania and Maryland didn’t know who they were. Similarly, your record release show is at a 750-cap theater in Charlottesville and leading up to Restless, you’ve talked about the experience of playing to ten people in a Myrtle Beach dive bar.
Landon: We’re a Virginia band, very much so, and we love it here in Richmond and there’s such a great scene here. So many bands that we love have really helped us learn how to tour, for instance, Illiterate Light, whose drummer, Jake Cochran, produced our record. They are the reason that we got to play Newport Folk Festival for the first time, and the reason that we ultimately got to play one of the main stages last year, which has been huge for us and our following in the Northeast and all over. And so there’s this really great camaraderie between touring artists regionally that we are really lucky to be tapped into. There are so many bands that we love that we can ask for advice and show trade.
Chipouras: The first time we played Newport [Folk Festival], I remember a couple days after playing a brewery to, like, five people. And there’s always that moment after you do something that feels like you’ve reached this next level and everything’s going to follow, you’re brought back down to earth. Even with the Jefferson [Theater] release show, the next day we’re gonna go down and play in North Carolina for maybe, like, 100 people or less. The main thing we’ve learned is there’s never one thing that’s gonna raise your profile everywhere. It’s like the 100 things you have to do in Massachusetts in order to get 50 people out to a Boston show. And what we’ve done is just sticking with it and taking every opportunity you can. It all just adds up slowly but surely.
Restless strikes me as an album inspired by just that, the friendship and ambition of the band, and also those times on the road where you question where it’s sustainable. I imagine most bands know that there are going to be “man, this sucks” moments, but were there any that were, “Man, this sucks in a way I didn’t expect?”
Landon: There have been so many points on the road where we go, “Oh my god, this sucks,” or, “This is one of the hardest things that I have experienced in my life.” And I think that’s all over the record. But I don’t know if that translates to doubt for the three of us. I think we’re all, like Teddy said, really persistent and have a shared dream and vision of what Palmyra is and can be and what we want to make it. Our throughline is the three of us buy in and work really hard and we try to make it a little easier for ourselves every year. Two years ago, we did 150 shows, last year it was 130 or something. This year, we’re going for 100. And to try to make that tenable, that is what we want out of Palmyra. We have the coolest job in the world, and we want that to be a sustainable thing. And yes, it kicks our ass all the time and we are pros at eating shit and learning hard lessons. That is a skill of ours.
Bell: That moment you’re asking for is more of a daily occurrence that compounds upon itself. It’s coming home from the road and having your credit card bill due. And you’re saying, “All right, I gotta go drive Uber.” Because playing gigs didn’t fill the bank account. It’s just the reality of today of what being an artist is, or to go even broader, what being a small business owner is. It’s not the silver bullet, the get rich quick scheme. It’s, “Okay, I’m gonna work really hard at this thing for a long time to make little incremental steps,” and knowing that every time you crest a hill you realize, “Oh, I’m really on a mountain.” And that can be crushing at times, but not to a point where I’m going to quit. Just like, damn, there’s so much work to do.
I’m thinking of Chappell Roan’s acceptance speech at the Grammys where she advocated for a stronger safety net for artists trying to make a living, whether it’s through unionizing or universal health care. Were there times when you thought, “You know, she had a point, we could have really used that as we’re coming up”?
Landon: The way we make money with music is playing shows and the streaming economy that we live in is so cooked. We’re doing our first-ever headline tour and the big thing with it is like, “Okay, how can we afford to do this? How can we afford to not take gigs with guarantees and try to sell tickets?” It’s an impossible question that we are all the time, every day, thinking about solutions.
One thing that’s really great for us and keeps us in the DIY world is that we’ll do house concerts and we’ll help people host them that have never done them before. It’s a really fun, intimate gig that also helps keep us afloat on the road.
Merch and ticket sales are lifeblood, and that’s why we tour as much as we do. We play so many shows. Teddy was saying at the end of last year, we’re looking at our friends that we’re like, “Damn, they’re on the road all the time.” Then we’re looking at our own calendar and going, “Oh, we played 30 more shows than this band that we think is perpetually on the road.” And it’s so that it can be our full-time job.
A lot of these songs are explicitly about very personal mental health struggles, and as the three of you share writing duties, how do you recognize boundaries about how to edit or challenge each other’s work?
Bell: Everyone writes lyrics individually, and we work on the music as a shared collective. So those boundaries are maybe different to each person. But I think we’re all in agreement that the best songs are the ones where you force yourself to be vulnerable. You need to get to that place. And it’s terrifying.
Chipouras: I don’t think we’ve ever had a mission statement or anything like, “This is what Palmyra songs are about.” When we’re working on songs, if we all feel it, we all buy in and we all put our stamp on it. And that is when it becomes a Palmyra song.
Landon: “Shape I’m In” is about a bipolar diagnosis that I got a couple years ago, and, as a song, it’s a byproduct of trying to make sense of that. When I brought it to the group, it was really messy and long and had a lot of words and, for me, was just an explosive sort of thing like, “I need to get this song out.” I remember when I first showed it to Mānoa and Teddy, they were like, “Wow, there are a lot of words in this song… what’s the hook?” We tried to clean it up a little and it’s not what it was when I first brought it to them. But I think where we ended up going with that song was, “Let’s embrace the things that are cool about it,” which in a lot of ways is the chaotic nature of it. And that shows in our live arrangement. I think the three of us all treasure honesty and authenticity as listeners and songwriters above most other things, and that really shows on on this record, and also allows us to go with each other when someone writes a song that is really vulnerable and heart-on-sleeve.
Bell: If you come to the group with a song that you’ve written lyrics to, the role of the other band members is to, like Sasha was saying, search for the thing that’s really working in the core of the song, but also to add parts to the song that make it cohesive and flow. When we’re editing each other’s stuff, it’s from a zoomed-out perspective because we didn’t have that emotional moment that led to putting pen on paper. But we can try to get there with you and just be like, “Hey, this is a chorus. Let’s do it more.”
And then to speak to “Buffalo,” which is the song I wrote the lyrics for on the record — it’s the same kind of thing, it’s a very emotional and deeply raw song for me that just kinda had to be written. And I was lucky to then be able to bring it to my friends and they were able to help me turn it into a song. It’s not just this emotional outburst. It’s also, “Let’s make it fun and something people want to sing along to and enjoy,” because music is both of those things.
Restless is out 3/28 via Oh Boy Records. Find more information here.
The last solo album released by Portland native Aminé was 2020’s Limbo. Since then, he’s dropped a mixtape, 2021’s TwoPointFive, and a collaboration, Kaytraminé with Kaytranada, in 2023. It’s seemed he’s been gearing up to finally release his long-awaited third studio album this year, releasing a string of new singles, including “Adam,” “Passenger Princess” with Smino, and “Familiar,” and today, he revealed the title and release date for the new project.
13 Months of Sunshine is due on May 16th via 10K Projects, his first album for the imprint after releasing his first two projects (and the mixtapes between them) under Republic.
The album’s title is inspired by an Ethiopian tourism slogan from the 1960s and ’70s. The slogan comes from the fact that Ethopia’s traditional calendar (or Geʽez calendar) which has 13 months instead of 12 (the 13th month is made up of five or six “leap days”). The title, along with the music video for “Familiar,” suggests that Aminé plans to put even more focus on his Ethiopian heritage on his next album. He shared the album title and cover art on Instagram, writing it out in both English and Amharic, the cultural language of his ancestral home. He also created a separate Instagram page dedicated to sharing clips from the album’s creation over the past three years.
Aminé
13 Months Of Sunshine is out 5/16 via 10K Projects. You can find more info here.
Uproxx’s new show, Sound Check returns with a new episode featuring Bay Area rapper G-Eazy. This week, our host Jeremy Hecht presents some tough choices, making Gerald choose between New Orleans staples (G-Eazy lived in New Orleans for a while), his favorite karaoke songs (“I can’t remember the words to my own songs, I’m ’bout to die!”), Rap GOATs (Jay-Z and Nas will never escape each other’s orbits, I guess) and of course, Bay Area anthems. Forced to choose between E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” and Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself,” his answer just might surprise you.
Here’s how it works: before the show, each guest gives our crew their pick for a “desert island favorite” — you know, the last song you’ll ever hear for the rest of your life. Then, our crew comes up with a decoy in the same vein. Over the course of seven quickfire rounds, Jeremy presents two tracks per round for the artist to choose from, hoping to get a sense of their musical taste. In the last round, Jeremy must use what he’s learned to guess the correct desert island song between the real answer and the decoy.
Not only do we get to learn our faves’ musical influences, but they get to put the host in the hot seat for once, resulting in an interview that’s as insightful as it is fun. Also, we all get to point and laugh at Jeremy if he misses (heavy emphasis on “if,” this kid’s a sniper!).
Check out our latest episode of Sound Check above and tune in for new episodes every week on Uproxx’s YouTube channel Wednesdays at noon ET / 9 AM PT.
In an indie-rock landscape where everyone’s getting twangier and twangier, seldom does a band come along that subtly nods to alt-country rather than diving in headfirst. Great Grandpa’s third album, Patience, Moonbeam, dishes up flourishes like the plucky banjo in “Ladybug” and the stomping cadence in “Kiss The Dice,” but augments those details with thick guitar distortion and crashing choruses.
It’s fitting that this album marks the band’s move from the folk-inclined Double Double Whammy to hardcore bastion Run For Cover. Similar to how Alex G put songs like “Bobby” and “Brick” on the same album, Great Grandpa apply that interdisciplinary stylization to their first album in over five years.
Ahead of the album’s release on Friday, the group sat down with Uproxx to talk about Hilary Duff, vegan BLTs, sleeping at a commune in Oregon, and more in our latest Q&A.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Cam: It’s kind of wild to think that our music might still be listened to 25+ years from now. Maybe it will be new music from us in 2050! In any case, I hope it would mean that people formed their own lasting connections to the songs, whether because of a fun show we played or discovering our music at a time when it meant something to them. We put music out there and then it becomes what it becomes, I think. Hopefully some elements of our music that might be present and/or persist would be: melodically compelling, thoughtful arrangements, emotionally evocative, and an openness toward growth and experimentation.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Cam: The last thing I Googled was “Port Townsend cafe” because my girlfriend and I took a weekend trip there.
If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?
Cam: I would donate one million dollars to support trans rights because trans people deserve to be safe, valued, and loved. Trans rights are human rights. I would direct the funds to trans-led organizations and mutual aid groups working to build power, strengthen legal protections, health care, housing, end gender-based violence, provide resources, and cultivate joy and liberation.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Cam: Nothing particularly elaborate. Ideally: eat a couple hours before our set. Take a walk if I can for a bit of time to myself. Stay hydrated. Do a bit of visualization of the songs. Set up my snare, cymbals, and get the drums just right. Take a moment off stage before we walk out to form a circle with my bandmates and get excited for our set. Then go!
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Pat: Technically not “a” person, but The Beatles as a group have always been a north star for me in terms of marrying melodic sensibility with constant evolution and experimentation.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Pat: A commune/hot springs in Oregon. We unfortunately became witnesses to some NSFW activities in the pools and then were awoken in the middle of the night to a man screaming while wandering amongst the tents.
What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?
Pat: My hope is that it will never be capable of capturing the idiosyncrasies of truly great musicians and that listeners will continue to prioritize human creators. That said, there is something really impressive about its ability to mimic more formulaic genres.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Pat: Hilary Duff. The Disney Channel was always on at our house as kids, and I liked how clumsy she was.
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
Al: I have a bad long-term memory for these types of things, but I got to see Angelo De Augustine this last year at Barnsdall Gallery (put on by Sid The Cat). I was so enamored; it was one of those experiences that felt like a time warp. Angelo’s music has been something of a tool for soothing, so I think I naturally felt at ease, something that’s not always easy to come by for me in large crowds.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Al: This is going to sound cliché, but for good reason: listen to your inner voice. I spent so much of my life brushing off my internal monologue and dismissing myself, and so I spent so much of my life in discomfort and confusion.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on social media?
Al: I’m not sure any part of social media brings me joy, but my favorite person to follow is probably Caleb Hearon. I think he may be the funniest person I’ve ever heard speak in my life.
What is your biggest fear?
Al: To be so unfortunately real with you, my biggest fear right now is what is happening in the US, I fear for the safety of trans people everywhere and especially trans children. I fear for migrants and anyone living under the threat of I.C.E. I am terrified for what is to come.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Dylan: Petrichor, gamboge, eburnean, granite.
What song never fails to make you emotional?
Dylan: “715 – CRΣΣKS” by Bon Iver.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Dylan: I can do a pretty good Marge Simpson impression.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Dylan: I got to meet one of my favorite comic artists, KC Green (of “This Is Fine” dog fame) at a convention and asked him to draw me a tattoo. He seemed kind of frazzled by it but drew me a little caterpillar drinking a soda pop, and I love it quite a bit.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?
Carrie: I have a lasting obsession with a cafe in Milwaukee called Beerline Cafe and specifically their vegan BLT (on sourdough add smoked gouda).
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?
Carrie: I always love our shows in Chicago. I would love to perform in Tokyo!
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.
Carrie: I would love to host an acoustic festival in the Hoh Rain Forest. This is my magical chance to meet some greats so let’s go ahead and bring out The Beatles, Billie Holiday, Brandi Carlile, Stevie Wonder, and The Chicks.
You have a month off and the l resources to take a dream vacation. Where are you going and who is coming with you?
Carrie: I’ve been dreaming of a trip to South America, especially exploring Patagonia. I would love to take my family when the kids are old enough to hike.
Patience, Moonbeam is out 3/28 via Run For Cover. Find more information here.
Less than a year after her album Ten Fold, Yaya Bey is already back with new music. The self-produced “merlot and grigio,” featuring dancehall artist Father Philis, is inspired by the singer’s Bajan heritage and Caribbean sounds. It’s her first song since signing with aft-forward record label drink sum wtr.
“I’ve been doing a lot of international touring and constantly in places where I’m the only Black person,” Bey explained in a statement. “When I was in France most recently I asked myself what it would look like to play to Black international audiences and that sort of got my wheels turning.”
She continued, “My dad would always have at least one Reggae song on his albums. Our family is from Barbados and I continued that tradition with songs like ‘meet me in brooklyn.’ I decided I would dive even deeper with Soca and reached out to Father Philis whose music I’ve been really digging. This song feels like a dream come true. To dig deeper into my own roots and prioritize Black communities especially in the Caribbean.”
You can watch the music video for “merlot and grigio” above. Also be sure to check out Yaya Bey at Governors Ball 2025, alongside Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler The Creator, and Hozier.
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