Romantic relationships, ill-fated and otherwise, have proven to be musical inspirations since the advent of songwriting. It’s not that often, though, that a songwriter teams with their ex to pen a song about the break-up. That’s what Phoebe Bridgers did with “I See You,” the latest single from her upcoming second album, Punisher.

Bridgers says of the song:

“It’s about my breakup with my drummer. We dated for a few years, made music every day, and were extremely codependent. We became like family to each other, so our breakup was extremely tough. But if this tells you anything about our relationship, we wrote this song together, just like everything else.”

Marshall Vore, the ex/drummer in question, is a longtime Bridgers collaborator, and he also has songwriting credits on a number of tracks from her debut solo album, Stranger In The Alps.

The new song was originally titled “ICU,” but Bridgers decided to make the obvious call and change the name in light of the global situation. As she explained in a press release, “*gestures at entire world*.”

Additionally, Bridgers has also announced a “tour” for May and June. “Phoebe Bridgers’ World,Tour” will kick off with a livestream performance from her kitchen on May 26. Then she will trek to her bathroom on May 28 before wrapping things up with two performances from her bed, on June 4 and 6.

Listen to “I See You” above.

Punisher is out 6/19 via Dead Oceans.

While much of the news related to both professional wrestling and COVID-19 in recent months has largely been focused on WWE and the fallout of having to move WrestleMania 36 (and all their other programming) into an empty gym, it’s easy to forget that other wrestling companies are currently trying to navigate their way through this new landscape as well. We’ve already learned about WWE’s enhanced safety procedures for every TV broadcast, and we’ve also found out that AEW is testing everyone, crew included, for COVID-19 before each episode of Dynamite.

But what about Impact Wrestling? The long-running company is still producing a TV product of their own, airing every Tuesday night on AXS TV, taping inside an empty Skyway Studios in Nashville — though participation has been voluntary, as evidenced by their world champion Tessa Blanchard staying home and forfeiting the title instead of competing at Rebellion.

A new interview with wrestlers Rohit Raju and Cousin Jake of the Deaners sheds some light on the safety precautions Impact has put in place at their tapings:

IMPACT! Wrestling, like its competitors WWE and AEW, has taken strict measures to ensure the safety of their talent and staff. Instead of a tiny locker room, the wrestlers were in a large facility to get ready for their matches, and when they were finished wrestling they had to immediately head to their single-occupant hotel rooms.

“You couldn’t even enter the building unless the doctor cleared you,” says [Cousin Jake]. “Everyone had to be far apart from each other. Everything still ran very smoothly.”

The article also makes mention of how different this experience was for the performers, with Raju commenting:

“It was wild, man. You go there and usually, everyone’s hugging each other, high-fiving or shaking hands, but as soon as you get there everybody was away from each other with their masks on trying to keep their distance and you really only talk to and were close to the person you were doing the matches with. Luckily I was around the same people, give or take one or two.”

With previous reports stating Impact recorded between six and eight weeks’ worth of episodes back in early April, that means they’re just about out of fresh content right now. It’s safe to assume there will be a new batch of empty-arena tapings taking place in the near future.

Raucous UK post-punk group Idles shared their thrashing sophomore record Joy As An Act Of Resistance in 2018. Since then, the group has maintained boisterous energy with a lively Tiny Desk performance and a gruesomely animated video for “Never Fight A Man With A Perm.” Last year, the group teased a return with a pair of singles, “I Dream Guillotine” and “Mercedes Marxist.” But, Idles shelved new music for the remainder of the year. Now, the group is ushering a new era with the spirited single “Mr. Motivator.”

The video consists of fan-submitted clips of their home workout routines. Some are fun, like a man dressed to mimic Boris Johnson. Other routines are more creepy, like a fan doing jumping jacks behind his son while sporting a full Donnie Darko rabbit suit. Both the video and the song’s title are a nod to a ’90s TV fitness coach named Mr. Motivator. The TV instructor is known for his enthusiastic motivational lines and colorful unitards.

Alongside the song’s release, Idles lead vocalist Joe Talbot said the song aims to encourage fans to get through these tough times with dance: “We want to start this journey with a means to not only encapsulate the album’s sentiment, but to encourage our audience to dance like no one is watching and plough through these dark times with a two-tonne machete of a song and the most beautiful community of scumbags ever assembled. Let’s go. All is love.”

Watch the “Mr. Motivator” video above.

Metallica’s latest whiskey — released as part of their BLACKENED label — is dropping with a commemorative box set that features a bottle of the new Batch 100, two vinyl records featuring the music that helped to age the whiskey, and a special zine featuring behind the scenes imagery of the band as well as commentary and stories about the blend’s unique aging process from Metallica drummer Laris Ulrich and Master Distiller & Blender Rob Dietrich.

Right now, two thoughts are likely swirling in your head, so we’ll answer them. Yes, Metallica does have their own entire whiskey line (and it’s pretty solid, too) and yes, we did casually mention “two vinyl records featuring that music that helped to age the whiskey.” While it’s easy to roll your eyes at the thought of a metal band-branded whiskey and dismiss it as another celebrity vanity project, considering BLACKENED is distilled using a fascinating ultrasound aging process dubbed “Black Noise Sonic Enhancement” that actually utilizes the sound of Metallica to help influence the flavor profile.

Though it sounds absurd, the whole gimmick technique is pretty legit. According to a study published in the journal of Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, spirits aged for three days using a unique ultrasound process produced spirits that were similar to brandies that had been aged for years. Ultrasound energy was found to influence both the intensity of the color as well as the total polyphenol index of the spirit treated. Pretty wild stuff.

“Being thrashed by the BLACK NOISE sonic enhancement process helps give the spirit a warm, honey amber hue,” read the official tasting notes to this expression. “Burnt caramel, oak and honey are present on the nose and moderate hints of spice upon first sip. The flavor of BLACKENED builds with notes of honey, cinnamon, allspice, clove, and mint, with unexpected hints of apricot lingering underneath. Expect a long and smooth finish with slightly creamy hints of butterscotch taffy, maple, and honey.”

The sounds that helped make BLACKENED Batch 100 were selected by BLACKENED’s in-house Master Distiller and Blender Rob Dietrich and further curated by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and is compiled on two 12-inch vinyl picture discs that feature deep cuts from Metallica’s massive catalog — sure to please die-hard Metallica-heads.

“When I look at Rob’s Playlist, I love the selections, I love the variety, I love that he’s gone for two deeper live tracks from the Damaged Justice tour, I love seeing both the Bing & Purge and Through The Never eras represent, and he even tapped the HelpingHands album, so it’s clear he is not a part-timer!” Ulrich said in a statement.

Metallica’s BLACKENED Batch 100 boxset is available now for a suggested retail price of $149.99. Hit up the BLACKENED website for a list of official retailers where you can pick it up.

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Sleep! Be! Damned!

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“I realized it was fraud because I don’t pay for my Netflix — my sister does.”

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“The last thing that I would ever want is for summer camp to be looked back on in history — or in the fall — as part of the reason that we have a second outbreak.”

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It’s not every day you get to write about Pete Davidson, Nick Kroll, and Princess Diana in the same article, but when the opportunity presents itself, you have to take it.

Kroll was a guest on Monday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where he discussed, among other topics, his ‎Oh, Hello podcast with fellow funny-person John Mulaney. It’s very good, with an impressive collection of guests, including Sarah Koening, John “Horny for Adam Driver” Oliver, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Davidson. What is Pete Davidson, a 26-year-old from Long Island who “truly had no idea how Princess Diana died, or that she died at all,” doing on a podcast about the People’s Princess, you might be wondering? Gil Faizon (charmed, I’m sure) has an answer for that.

“What Pete did bring to the table was what it was like to be hounded by the paparazzi,” a bathrobe-wearing Kroll told Meyers, referring to Davidson’s relationship with Ariana Grande. “In a weird way, Pete was, in fact, the most useful guest on the podcast to give a sense of what it was like for Princess Diana, because I would say that SNL… I know that you’re a former cast member and writer, but they’re kind of our royalty.”

Diana was the princess of Wales, but Davidson? He’s the KING of freaking Staten Island. Easily one of the top-five boroughs in New York.