The Hold Steady have been around for nearly two decades and they’re far from finished releasing new music. Gearing up for the debut of their eighth studio album, Open Door Policy, the band shares the driving single “Heavy Covenant.”
“Heavy Covenant” is the second single shared of their Open Door Policy LP, following the raucous track “Family Farm.” Speaking about the new single in a statement, The Hold Steady’s vocalist Craig Finn says the song came together relatively seamlessly:
“‘Heavy Covenant’ is a song about travel, technology, and human connection. The song came out of two different music pieces that The Hold Steady piano/keyboardist Franz Nicolay brought in, and with the help of producer Josh Kaufman, we combined them. It came together quickly, and when our friends Stuart and Jordan came in and added the horns to the chorus it really seemed to bring it together. To us, this song is a great indication of where the band’s sound is at in 2021.”
About their Open Door Policy album as a whole, Finn said: “Open Door Policy was very much approached as an album vs. a collection of individual songs, and it feels like our most musically expansive record. This album was written and almost entirely recorded before the pandemic started, but the songs and stories explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival – issues which have compounded in 2020.”
Listen to The Hold Steady’s “Heavy Covenant” above and check out their Open Door Policy album cover and tracklist below.
Donald Trump may have pardoned former national security advisor Michael Flynn, but he can’t do anything to keep the conspiracy theorist and convicted felon on his favorite social media site. NBC News reporters Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny wrote on Friday that Michael Flynn and Trump lawyer Sidney Powell had been permanently banned from the social media platform after spreading QAnon conspiracies that helped, in part, spark a MAGA riot that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Trump’s behalf on Wednesday.
QAnon followers, who believe Trump was elected to save the United States from a cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic child predators in the Democratic Party and also Hollywood, played a huge part in organizing and carrying out mob violence in Washington, D.C. that left five people dead and resulted in the biggest breach of the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812. And as arrests of those responsible and talk of a second impeachment of Trump for inciting the violence dominated news coverage on Friday, word that several Trump surrogates were banned from Twitter also made the rounds:
Flynn and Powell both counseled with Trump at the White House in recent weeks as part of efforts to overturn election results. They are also high-profile figures in the QAnon community, and Flynn even took an “oath” to the conspiracy theory last year.
“The accounts have been suspended in line with our policy on Coordinated Harmful Activity. We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content,” a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News.
This is, perhaps, the least of Powell’s worries: Friday brought word that Dominion Voting Systems is suing her to the tune of $1.3 billion for amplifying false claims that the company committed widespread voter fraud in an effort to steal the election from Donald Trump.
The report also noted that the person many believe to be behind many widespread QAnon posts, Ron Watkins, who runs the message board where Q drops are now posted, also had his account deleted. The conspiracy, apart from being completely baseless and wildly detached from reality, originated from a game on message boards far removed from the mainstream. That the conspiracy became popular and was openly shared on a more mainstream site, and it took real-world violence and sedition to remove it from Twitter, really speaks to the long leash afforded to Trump and his followers. After Wednesday, and with Trump’s days in office officially numbered, that stance appears to be changing.
In the chaos of the attack on the Capitol two days ago, some important stories have gotten a bit buried. One story that’s not getting the attention it should—ironically, because journalists usually do everything they can to not make themselves the story—is the violent attacks on the press that took place.
New York Times staff photographer Erin Schaff described her harrowing experience in a Twitter post shared by her colleague Emily Cochrane.
In Schaff’s words:
“Grabbing my press pass, they saw that my ID said The New York Times and became really angry. They threw me to the floor, trying to take my cameras. I started screaming for help as loudly as I could. No one came. People just watched. At this point, I thought I could be killed and no one would stop them. They ripped one of my cameras away from me, broke a lens on the other and ran away.
But then the police found me. I told them that I was a photojournalist and that my pass had been stolen, but they didn’t believe me. They drew their guns, pointed them and yelled at me to get down on my hands and knees. As I lay on the ground, two other photojournalists came into the hall and started shouting “She’s a journalist!”
the fact that @erinschaff experienced THIS and still filed photos and wrote about makes me want to cry all over aga… https://t.co/nYwfhObRGf
Another photographer, John Minchillo from the Associated Press, was physically assaulted, with the attack being caught on video. Some in the crowd seemed to think he’s part of ANTIFA, despite him clearly and repeatedly pointing out his press credentials. At one point, he is violently thrown over a wall and you can hear someone yelling that they were going to kill him, but he thankfully was escorted away without injury.
The AP, which is known for being one of the least biased, most factual news outlets, had a bunch of their equipment destroyed by the mob, who chanted “CNN sucks” while destroying it. You’d think the big “AP” stickers on some of the equipment would have offered a clue that it was not CNN’s, but no one is accusing these folks of being the sharpest pencils in the pack.
Outside the Capitol, pro-Trump protesters are smashing cameras and other media equipment yelling “CNN sucks!”
One… https://t.co/8TF028ZltW
It should be crystal clear to anyone who values democracy that an attack on the free press is never okay. The freedom of the press is enshrined in the first amendment of the Constitution, and since the people who stormed the Capitol building were attempting to put themselves in the place of our duly elected government, their attacks on the press were an attack not just on the individuals and media outlets involved, but on the Constitution itself.
It shouldn’t be surprising that people who have been told pretty much daily that the news media is the “enemy of the people” would eventually take that rhetoric seriously. This is exactly what people who criticized the president’s extreme language warned would eventually happen.
People can have legitimate criticisms of media companies while still recognizing that the journalists working on the ground are heroes of democracy who put themselves into harm’s way to keep us informed about what’s happening in the world. These are people who document history as it happens. They are the eyes and ears of the people, and without them we would truly be living in darkness.
Attacks on the free press are attacks on democracy itself and should be called out as such. And the fact that these attacks came not from some outside terrorist group, but from a group of American citizens violently attacking an entire branch of our federal government, should be a huge wake-up call about where we are and the extremist rhetoric that led us here.
It’s been over five years since we last heard from R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan with her LP Reality Show. But this week, the singer returned to get a lot off her chest with the vulnerable album Heaux Tales. To celebrate the release of her project, Sullivan appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series to showcase her dynamic vocal range and soothing melodies.
Taking the stage with her band and a trio of backup singers, Sullivan kicked off her set with her Heaux Tales album opener “Bodies (Intro).” The song is Sullivan’s way of holding herself accountable for her past slip-ups and pushing herself to find the strength to change her lifestyle. The singer then transitioned into a rendition of her tracks, “The Other Side,” “Lost One,” and “Let It Burn.”
Closing out her set, Sullivan was joined by Grammy Award-winning musician HER for assistance performing their collaborative single “Girl Like Me.” HER appeared by Sullivan’s side with an acoustic guitar in hand to contribute her expert finger-picking and soaring vocals. The two harmonize an account of feeling insecure after being left in the dust by their last partner.
During an attempt to blame Antifa for Wednesday’s attempted coup by a Trump mob, InfoWars conspiracy peddler Alex Jones inadvertently revealed that he was directed by the White House, days in advance, to lead the MAGA crowd to the Capitol building. While describing his version of events as a speaker for the protest that sought to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results, Jones disclosed to viewers of The Alex Jones Show that he was given specific instructions on how to herd everyone towards the Capitol building. However, he says there was already a crowd on its way there, which he claims is when things went sideways as the angry mob quickly switched from protesters to domestic terrorists. Via Media Matters for America:
And then the White House told me three days before, “We’re going to have you lead the march. The Secret Service — before Trump finishes, 30 minutes before — so we’ll lead you to a point, take you out of the front row and lead you to the place where they want you to start the march and Trump will tell people, ‘Go, and I’m going to meet you at the Capitol.’” There was a million people outside of the Ellipse that was — you know, metal detectors, folks coming in. And so, by the time I got out there 20 minutes, 30 minutes before Trump finished his speech there were already hundreds of thousands of people ahead of me marching.
As a noted friend and advisor to the president, Jones stuck to the current administration talking point that Antifa disguised themselves to look like Trump supporters. “They had their classic elbow pads and knee pads, because that’s what the wimps wear, out there screaming, ‘F Antifa’ and Proud Boy chants to try and blame the Proud Boys,” Jones said. Contrary to the claims of Jones and other Republican leaders like Matt Gaetz, the FBI has said there is “no indication” that Antifa was involved.
Tiger (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This documentary takes an intimate look at the rise, fall, and return of Tiger Woods. Our own Vince Mancini calls this an irresistible watch, and the film charts the prodigy’s obsession with his sport that led him to the highest of heights and fame, which led to a downward spiral, and eventually, an epic comeback.
Pretend It’s A City (Netflix limited series) — Marty Scorsese’s back on Netflix while directing this project revolving around long-time friend Fran Lebowitz. The series follows her “New Yorker to the core” brand of straight talking in what’s essentially a punchy guidebook that will appeal to true New Yorkers. Scorsese, too, gives his own takes on the Big Apple, so expect a double dose of attitude on everything from tourists to the subways to the arts to, yes, Times Square.
The Mystic Sisters Present: Mystery Mansion (Amazon prime special) — Inspired by cult comedies like What We Do In The Shadows and Evil Dead, this comedy special chronicles incompetent characters that face chaos and doom while also battling each other. There’s a mystical mansion and a portal of power, and everything has a very Mystery Science Theater 3000 flavor in this sketch-comedy special.
Pieces of a Woman (Netflix film) — Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf star as Martha and Sean, respectively, who experience an unimaginable tragedy when a home birth goes wrong. Martha then undertakes a yearlong odyssey while coping with grief and her relationship with Sean, which (unsurprisingly) strains under the pressure of their mutual loss. Meanwhile, Ellen Burstyn plays her overbearing mom, and Molly Parker plays the publicly shamed midwife. Look for this movie to be an awards contender.
Herself (Amazon prime film) — A single mother escapes her abusive partner and builds a new life with the help of a marvelous crew of unexpected helpers. It’s an illuminating journey that finds inspiration in, strangely, a bedtime story. Alright!
Fatale (VOD film) — This psychological thriller stars Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy. He plays a sports agent who falls in with a sexy and mysterious woman (Swank), who turns out to be a police detective. And of course, he’s risking his family, career, and life after becoming embroiled within her investigation.
Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:
Supermarket Sweep (Sunday, ABC 8:00 p.m.) — Leslie Jones and every bit of her enthusiasm will host contestants in this revival of the grocery-shopping game show.
Shameless (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Guess who’s moving in next door to the Gallaghers? The Milkoviches. This should go over well at around the same time that Mickey’s picking up his new security gig for Kevin and V. Meanwhile, Debbie’s turning into a stage mom.
Your Honor (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — Panic-Cranstoning is still in high effect with Bryan Cranston’s bad-breaking judge realizing that he’s being blackmailed while the mob family still aims to avenge their son’s hit-and-run death. This week, Adam tangles with a dangerous love interest, and Michael’s trying to wiggle away from his blackmailer.
History of Swear Words (Netflix series) — A Nic Cage series? Yes please. A Nic Cage series where he teaches us lessons about expletives? Give it to me now. Cage hosts here with an array of guests — including Jim Jefferies, Zainab Johnson, Nick Offerman, Sarah Silverman, Baron Vaughn, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Joel Kim Booster, DeRay Davis, Open Mike Eagle, Nikki Glaser, Patti Harrison, London Hughes — to dive deep into his proudly profane stance. Over the course of six episodes, you’ll learn about the origins of “F*ck,” “Sh*t,” “B*tch,” “D*ck,” “Pu**y,” and “Damn.”
In case you missed these picks from last weekend:
Cobra Kai: Season 3 — (Netflix series) The good news? This The Karate Kid revival is still as much of an adrenaline shot as the last two rounds. The bad news? It’s also infuriatingly good. After Johnny and Daniel’s combined bad moves contributed heavily to Miguel landing in a hospital bed, Johnny’s looking for redemption. While he does the hard work in the hospital — and Kreese re-takes the dubious reigns of the Cobra Kai dojo, which makes me worried about him instructing Hawk to be even more of an anger-bear monster — Daniel-san heads to Okinawa, where an old rival is ready for him. The soul and fate of every sensei (and their students) are up for grabs.
Vikings: Season 6B — (Amazon Prime) The final ten episodes of the History Channel series are making their debut on streaming first. The epic saga comes to a close with grave consequences from the confrontations between the Vikings and the Rus. Ivar the Boneless has a last reckoning with the King, and there’s unfinished business all over England. Get ready for (of course) a violent and bloody end to the show.
The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Part Four — (Netflix series) The Riverdale spinoff will come to a (planned) end with this installment starring Kiernan Shipka. This time around, the Devil-afflicted Nick’s attempting to win Sabrina back after surrendering to his darker urges, but The Eldritch Terrors have descended upon Greendale, and The Void could truly be the End of All Things. Can the Fright Club save the day? I’m (strangely) pulling for Harvey over here. And Salem the Cat. Meow.
After a story at The Athletic dropped on Friday morning detailing how John Collins and Clint Capela criticized Trae Young during a Hawks film session earlier this week, Atlanta media asked Young about his response to the situation, and Young responded that nothing out of the ordinary happened at those conversations are part of a young team getting better.
Young struggled in the next game he played on Wednesday, taking only nine shots in a home loss to Charlotte, but his words on Friday indicated he may have moved on.
It’s hard to tell here where one fissure begins and another ends. Tension between Young and head coach Lloyd Pierce has been reported on multiple times over the course of the past two seasons, and of course Collins’ contract extension negotiations became public prior to the NBA deadline last fall as he turned down a new deal in order to face restricted free agency in 2021. Pierce in the past has expressed that he wants to give Young the space to develop as a leader.
It is also clearly true that Young plays a style that does not involve sophisticated offensive sets and can often phase his teammates out of the offense. Young is not the only one in the NBA who plays this way, but unlike guys like James Harden or Luka Doncic, it has not led to his team making the postseason. However, Atlanta is also just 4-4 and still has a solid shot at being in the playoff conversation in the East, so they have plenty of runway to figure things out if this ends up being put in the past.
Friday is a sad day for Jeopardy! fans, as the syndicated game show is set to air the final episode Alex Trebek taped as host before he died of pancreatic cancer in November. Many have paid tribute to Trebek as his final episodes air, including past champions and those who have appeared on the show in the past.
But former Jeopardy! champion and Greatest Of All Time Tournament participant Brad Rutter is doing his best to lighten the mood with a great story that showcased a little-seen side of the late game show host. People detailed a radio interview Rutter gave with WOGL on Thursday where the show veteran described a moment from the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. Back then, Rutter was not as veteran a big-game Jeopardy! player, and the tournament pitted him against Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings and Jereme Vered.
Rutter explained that the trio were nervous before the match and someone joked that to ease tensions someone should should play without their pants on, a riff on some common advice to imagine a crowd naked if you’re nervous. But it turns out that Trebek got wind of the joke and wanted to play along.
“What we didn’t know was that our mics were live, and Alex heard us,” Rutter said.
When the announcer introduced Trebek, the longtime host decided to have some fun with the three competitors. “Alex came out with no pants on,” Rutter recalled.
Rutter added that Trebek’s sense of humor came out “even more so in person than you would see on the show.”
“You’re really just not allowed to talk about much,” he told WOGL of being on Jeopardy! “I was lucky enough to be on the show so often that I got to know Alex a little.”
Trebek’s humor has appeared on the show in other forms over the years, but it was a notable break from the usually stoic character he displayed as trivia master on the show. It’s what made those SNL sketches about celebrities messing with Will Ferrell’s Trebek so funny: the idea of the Jeopardy! host suffering on their account. Rutter also co-signed another good Trebek story earlier in the week that spoke to who the show host was.
It is nice, though, to know that Trebek was also willing to risk a bit of public embarrassment in order to deliver a joke. And it’s a lovely example of why so many people over the years recall their time on Jeopardy! and around its legendary host so fondly.
The holidays can take a real toll on us. And we’re not just talking about the stressors and anxiety that come from spending time (even via Zoom) with uncles, aunts, cousins, and our immediate families. We’re also referencing all the eating and drinking that December is known for.
One too many scoops of grandma’s famous lasagna or that extra pint of barrel-aged stout can make a person feel the need for a seasonal detox.
But we’re not the types to swear off alcohol until February 1st. We like our moderation in moderation. Instead, we’ll spend the weeks (and maybe months) after the holidays taking it a little easier in the alcohol department. To help in that endeavor, we went to the pros — asking a handful of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best low alcohol beers to drink this January.
It’s hard to find a session beer that’s not an IPA. Bell’s Brewery makes a beer called Oarsman Ale. It was kind of like a berlinerweiss, a classic German-style that’s low abv and a little tart. It has this delightful, ghostly body, making it the ultimate palate cleanser.
This beer is absolutely delicious with food.
Cass Fresh Beer
Cass
ABV: 4.5%
Cari Hah, formerly bar manager at Café Alcove in Loa Angeles
My go-to low alcohol beer is Cass Fresh Beer. It is a Korean lager that is crisp and refreshing. Perfect to wash down Korean barbecue.
Slightly Mighty IPA by Dogfish Head is a solid low-ABV beer coming in at 4% ABV and only 95 calories, that’s fewer calories than a white claw and a heck of a lot more flavor and pizzazz. Delicately hoppy on the nose and light and fruitful on the palate, with hints of pineapple and mango.
For low-ABV and low-calorie beer, I’ve found Slightly Mighty to be a great choice – it’s light but still carries a wallop of flavors, giving you the joy of a good beer without the guilt.
Michelada from Speciation Artisan Ales and Untitled Art is one of my favorite crushable beers. Lime, Tabasco, and salt are perfectly balanced to create this sour with a flavorful punch and an ABV of 5%.
My favorite sessionable beer I’ve ever had is New Glarus’ Spotted Cow Farmhouse Ale. It has a fairly intricate flavor profile for being such a drinkable beer. It has the floral, grassy notes of a saison, the malt profile of a hefeweizen, and a nice creamy texture. Saisons and hefeweizens are my two favorite styles, so that feels like a no-brainer.
I sometimes wish I lived in Wisconsin solely to have regular access to this beer.
WellBeing Heavenly Body
Heavenly Body
ABV: 0%
Andy Printy, beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis
Heavenly Body from WellBeing brewing is a great 0% brew made for those who want a solid beer, but none of the ABV. Made in the style of American wheat and kissed by both Cascade and German traditional hops. It’s crisp, citrusy, and has a great, balanced finish.
54-40 Kascadia Kolsch
54-40
ABV: 4.8%
Justin Moses, wine director at Sand Valley in Nekoosa, Wisconsin
Kascadia Kolsch from 54-40 Brewing Co. out of Washington state is a refrigerator staple. Crisp, clean, and always fresh. Floral hops and slight maltiness lets you know that you’ve got a quality brew in your hand. And, at 4.8% ABV, you can easily have a couple after work or on the golf course.
Bell’s Light-Hearted Ale is probably my go-to for a crushable low ABV beer. With pine tree and some subtle citrus from the hops, but not an overwhelming hoppy characteristic, it’s balanced and easy to drink. You can definitely down quite a few before your day starts to go sideways.
Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales
Only a week into the year and Jazmine Sullivan has blessed the R&B world with Heaux Tales, her latest project after nearly 5 years of laying low on the scene with only single drops here and there such as the powerful “Insecure” featuring Bryson Tiller off 2017’s Insecure Soundtrack. Jazmine has been getting everyone ready for this moment. “Pick Up Your Feelings” and “Girl Like Me” with H.E.R. were all the signs of what Heaux Tales turns out to be. Upon closer listen, fans will find more goodness on her honest collection of songs including “Price Tags” featuring Anderson .Paak and the sensual “On It” with Ari Lennox’s buttery vocals. Heaux Tales was named as one of Uproxx’s Most Anticipated Albums of 2021, and here it is.
Dvsn — “Use Somebody”
“Use Somebody” is Dvsn’s beautiful interpretation of rock band Kings Of Leon’s Grammy Award-winning hit song from 2008. The song is yet another sneak peek into what the OVO Sound duo has in store with their forthcoming project, Amusing Her Feelings. Nineteen85 softens the vibe and Daniel takes the energy to a different space in a way that only these two could have re-imagined.
Nao — “Antidote” feat. Adekunle Gold
On the vibrant “Antidote,” Nao taps in with Nigerian hitmaker Adekunle Gold and delivers a music video to go with it. “’Antidote’ is the remedy to 2020, it’s a song born out of lockdown which was something that affected everybody’s lives all over the world,” Nao expresses in a statement. “Both Adekunle and I had daughters born weeks apart during this time, they lifted our vibrations and we wanted to share that good energy with the rest of the world.”
VanJess — “Curious”
Sister duo VanJess serves sensuality on a platter with their latest release “Curious” featuring Jimi Tents and Los Angeles’ own Garren. This track follows Ivana and Jessica Nwokike previously released “Slow Down” and “Come Over.”
SZA — “Shirt”
“Shirt” isn’t necessarily a new release from SZA (check out “Good Days” and “Hit Different” for that), it’s merely a snippet of her collaboration with legendary producer Rodney “Dark Child” Jerkins on a loop that she teased back in October. TikTok is currently eating this one up and for good reason. Hopefully, SZA will make this release official.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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