“Speed Of Sound” was a huge moment for Coldplay, as it kicked off the X&Y era and was the band’s first top-10 single in the US. Yet, the band has a contentious relationship with the song.
In a 2011 interview with Concrete, Chris Martin explained that Coldplay thought they “never got it right” when it comes to “Speed Of Sound.” In a 2011 chat with Howard Stern, he explained that the band doesn’t play the song live because “an audience can pick up real fast if you’re not convinced by something.”
Since the X&Y era, the band has played the track live only rarely, and when they do, it’s usually acoustic of just a shortened version of the song. However, during a recent show at El Paso, Texas (as NME notes), they performed a full-band version of the full song for the first time since 2016.
Before playing it, Martin told the audience, “Why don’t we try and reclaim the song ‘Speed Of Sound?’ At some point, we’ll do a proper edit of the song and just do a remix. I’d like to make it a little bit quicker, a little bit shorter, a little bit tighter…” He added, “For those of you who weren’t born in 2005, it’s not that good, but [laughs] we’re going to try and play it anyway.”
Will Anderson is a DIY lifer. A native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin — he grew up next door to future indie-Americana luminaries Brad and Phil Cook — he played in the underground sludge-rock band Weed in the 2010s before starting a new shoegaze-leaning project, Hotline TNT, at the end of the decade. Up until the release of his breakout 2023 album Cartwheel, Anderson was content playing all-ages shows in basements for small but passionate audiences.
But with Hotline TNT’s latest record Raspberry Moon (due Friday), Anderson admits his ambitions have changed. I met him recently at one of the country’s best record shops, Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, where his band was doing an in-store gig before opening for the indie-pop band Hippo Campus at a large outdoor venue for thousands of people. I wondered whether his inner punk found that sort of environment unnatural.
“Unfortunately, it does feel natural,” he told me later. “I don’t think Hotline TNT is true outsider music. It’s not hardcore, it’s not punk, it’s not even shoegaze in my opinion.”
What Hotline TNT sounds like on Raspberry Moon is the last thing any music critic likes to classify something as these days: A rock band. On Cartwheel, Anderson worked closely with co-producer Drew Auscherman to create a furious, blown-out sound that nearly overwhelmed the canny melodies buried in the murk. On the new record, however, Hotline TNT worked more as an actual live unit, a byproduct of the constantly changing lineup finally solidifying during the Cartwheel tour cycle. Under the guiding hand of producer Amos Pitsch from DIY heroes Tenement – they recorded Raspberry Moon in Pitsch’s (and my) hometown of Appleton, Wis. — Anderson both streamlined and beefed-up Hotline TNT’s sound, sacrificing some of the gritty character of Cartwheel for extra anthemic power. You can hear it in the single (and one of the year’s best songs) “Julia’s War,” which has a “na na na” chorus I can imagine inspiring massive sing-alongs live.
“Even back two records ago, I wanted to make the most badass-sounding riffs I could,” he said in a recent Zoom interview, “and I envisioned myself playing those songs in front of big rooms with lots of people and everyone’s ready to go crazy. That sounds like the most fun thing for me.”
In our interview, we talked about the making of Raspberry Moon, not being a shoegaze band, and also not being an “NBA band.”
When I saw you at Electric Fetus, I was amazed by how much your lead guitar player was shredding. I didn’t really pick up on that aspect of the band from the records.
Anytime you use the word shoegaze, it’s like you have the idea of the wall of sound, where we’re all playing the same chords at the same time. But with this album, I think this is the first honest-to-God guitar solo that’s ever been on a Hotline record
How did you settle on this current lineup?
The hardest part of having a band is keeping the same people. These are the four people who were willing to put themselves through the torture of being a touring musician six months out of the year. Until we’re millionaires, you have to be okay with some abuse, for lack of a better word. It’s hard. It’s a hard life, and it’s an awesome life, too. We love it for sure. But even people who think they really want to do it, once you’re actually out there on the road, it can quickly become a different story.
What’s the hardest part of touring?
I’m kind of speaking for the group at this point. I love every part of it. I’m addicted to it, no doubt about it. Now that I’m in a relationship, I will say that I get it a little bit more, the desire to be home. But before now, I was ready to go 12 months out of the year.
Okay, what do you love about touring?
I just think it’s a really amazing way to meet new people, and it’s the truest form of expression that I’ve found for what I want to do. There’s still stuff that I hate that we’re doing, but I’m 36 now, it’s just part of what has to happen if you want to keep touring and playing at this level.
You told me that playing 21-and-over shows, as opposed to all-ages shows, was hard for you.
It was hard. The first few years of Hotline, we refused. That’s just a holdover of my youth, and an ethical belief that I held onto for a long time. But again, now that I am 36, sometimes I almost feel weird about it. Why do you want teenagers to be at your show so bad?
Literally, this has become my job. I don’t have a day job now, and I have to pay for my chihuahua’s dog food and my rent in New York City. There are certain lines that I won’t cross. But I guess I have crossed some of them already.
The new album is produced by Amos Pitsch, who’s also from Wisconsin. Was it your shared ‘sconnie heritage that brought you together?
We didn’t really start circling each other until I left the area. I moved to Vancouver for college immediately after I graduated, and I started doing DIY touring up there. When I finally made it to Milwaukee, there was this band called Technicolor Teeth he was in. We played with them two times, and both times, they were the best band I’ve ever seen live. So that was my introduction to him, and that was probably 10 years ago now.
When it was getting time to write this new record, I wrote him a letter. We weren’t even, like, reply guys of each other. We wouldn’t even talk online or anything. I just wrote him a letter to the Crutch Of Memory address, and I said, “Hey, love for you to work on a new Hotline TNT record, what do you think?” And he actually called me back. Once we actually got in the room together, I mean, we’re both Wisconsin guys, it just felt like we were old friends.
You live in New York but do you still consider yourself a Midwesterner? Or are you just a New Yorker now?
I don’t think of myself as a New Yorker. I ended up here randomly, to be honest. I started the band in Minneapolis, and I was there for about three years. And then when I moved to New York, it was not related to music at all. As I’m getting older, too, pretty much every time I come through the Midwest, it’s harder and harder to leave. I am pretty much dying to move back to the Midwest, and that is kind of my long-term goal. But in the meantime, I have liked living in New York a lot, and it’s been great as a musician, and I’ve found some really good people to play with. But I don’t feel super connected to the scene here.
When I saw you play at Electric Fetus, I kept getting Hüsker Dü vibes, which I feel like are even more pronounced on the new record than on Cartwheel. I don’t hear that comparison come up with Hotline TNT. You’re usually classified as a shoegaze band.
Bob [Mould]’s music is my No. 1 influence. Not just Hüsker Dü, but a lot of his stuff. But I didn’t really get to know it until I left. When I got to college, I started working at record stores and got some history lessons. Growing up, my favorite Minneapolis favorite bands were The Jayhawks, and a little bit later I was super into the 12 Rods and Halloween, Alaska scene.
You said earlier that you don’t consider Hotline TNT a shoegaze band, but critics seem to view you as one anyway. What’s your relationship with that genre?
The antagonist in me is kind of like, “Okay, you guys think this is what we are? This is what we are then.” People ask, “Where do you think shoegaze is going next?” And I’m like, “Well, wherever we go, that’s where shoegaze is going. We are in charge of the movement.” But I don’t think we sound like classic shoegaze bands at all.
Coming at it from a music critic perspective, I think there’s a weird reluctance to just call something a rock band. It always has to be shoved into a subgenre, like shoegaze or hardcore. But it over-complicates things. Sometimes a rock band is just a rock band.
I think when people hear “rock band,” their mind immediately goes to like, “Okay, so you’re like Foo Fighters?” But I know exactly what you mean.
I can’t let you go without some NBA talk, since I know you’re a fan. What’s your opinion on the current state of NBA discourse? I feel like the NBA is second only to the WNBA for having the worst conversations in sports right now. I don’t have ESPN, but I see clips in my social media feed and it’s always about who’s the face of the league, or, “Who’s the GOAT, LeBron or MJ?” Even when there are actual games of consequence being played. Who in the world wants to hear Kendrick Perkins talk about the face of the league during the NBA Finals?
Anyway, do you have any thoughts on this?
I have a lot of thoughts on it, especially as it relates to indie rock. One thing I love about the NBA is that it’s kind of an equalizer. I can talk to the UPS guy, I can talk to teachers, I can talk to so many people in different walks of life about sports. And that’s what I think is so great about sports overall, is that it can bring us all together.
It’s the last form of monoculture.
Right. But it sort of got hijacked by indie rock bros, like myself and Jake Lenderman. And now I find it kind of cringe that I’m so into it. I don’t like talking about it that much.
Oh man, I’m sorry I brought this up.
No, it’s fine. You can bring it up. But you know what I mean? It’s like, now every time a new poster artist wants to do a flyer for our tour, it’s like, “All right, let’s get you some NBA stuff up there, right? You guys love basketball, right?” I’m like, “No, stop. We’re not the NBA band.”
Raspberry Moon is out 6/20 via Third Man Records. Find more information here.
Halsey is in the midst of her For My Last Trick tour, and during a recent stop, one of her tricks was saving a videographer from a potentially dangerous situation.
During a June 14 concert (as E! notes), Halsey was in the middle of performing “Without Me” when she spotted a videographer on stage, standing in an area where pyrotechnics would soon go off. She shouted at him, “Get out of the way!” After he didn’t seem to get the message, Halsey ran over to him and physically moved him while shouting, “There’s pyro coming, move!” Here’s a video of the moment.
Reflecting on a recent performance, Halsey wrote on Instagram, “every night is getting better and better and weirder and weirder. I can’t believe it’s going by so fast. I have a short runway ahead to do a lot of fun stuff so expect the unexpected moving forward.”
Check out Halsey’s remaining tour dates below.
Halsey’s 2024 Tour Dates: Halsey: For My Last Trick
06/20 — Somerset, WI @ Somerset Amphitheater %#
06/22 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre %#
06/24 — West Valley City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre %#
06/26 — Ridgefield, WA @ Cascades Amphitheater %#
06/28 — Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre %#
07/05 — Lincoln, CA @ The Venue at Thunder Valley Casino Resort !
07/06 — Highland, CA @ Yaamava’ Theater!
# with flowerovlove
% with Magdalena Bay
! with Alemeda
We’re now just over a week away from the release of Lorde’s latest album, Virgin. So far, we’ve heard “What Was That” and “Man Of The Year,” and it turns out we will be getting one more pre-album single, as Lorde is set to unveil “Hammer” tomorrow (June 20).
Announcing the song on social media, Lorde wrote, “Hammer. Last song before Virgin. First song on the album. An ode to city life and horniness tbh.”
She also shared a teaser for the video, in which Lorde has braided pigtails and a pigeon on either shoulder. We also get some lyrics: “There’s a heat in the pavement / My mercury’s raising.” In a post, she noted the video was directed by Renell Medrano and shot on location in London’s Hampstead Heath.
Lorde previously wrote of the upcoming album, “I was trying to see myself, all the way through. I was trying to make a document that reflected my femininity: raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc. I’m proud and scared of this album. There’s nowhere to hide. I believe that putting the deepest parts of ourselves to music is what sets us free.”
Watch the “Hammer” trailer above.
Virgin is out 6/27 via Republic Records. Find more information here.
Back in April, Uproxx sent Jeremy Hecht to the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, where he gave the Sound Check formula a road test, challenging stars like Ludacris and Juvenile to a musical taste inspection.
One of the acts he caught up with was Earthgang, the Atlanta duo consisting of Olu and WowGr8, also known as Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot. They put their heads together to come up with a joint desert island song, and Jeremy did his best to decipher their shared taste through choices between Kid Cudi and Future, Outkast and The Roots, and Harry Styles and T-Pain.
Here’s how it works: Jeremy plays two songs for the guest artist, who has to choose one and explain their choice, giving Jeremy a chance to learn their musical taste. Jeremy then has to guess the artist’s life anthem, the song they’d take to a desert island, which the guest wrote down earlier on a piece of paper. Our production team has also given him a decoy song, and Jeremy has to guess which is correct based on what he’s learned in the previous rounds.
Watch Earthgang take on the Sound Check challenge above. New episodes of Sound Check drop every Wednesday at noon ET / 9 PM PT on Uproxx’s YouTube.
Last month, African giant Burna Boy kicked off the rollout for his next album, No Sign Of Weakness, with the Travis Scott collaboration “TaTaTa” after previously sharing “Bundle By Bundle” with Chlöe. Now, with a little under a month left to go until the album drops, Burna announces the dates for the No Sign Of Weakness Tour. Kicking off in November at Red Rocks, the tour will cover 16 cities, and in an innovative update, will feature a 360-degree stage in the middle of the floor.
Ticket presales will begin Tuesday, June 24 from 10 AM until 10 PM local time, with general sale starting Friday, June 27 at 10 AM. You can find more information here.
No Sign Of Weakness is out 7/10 via Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic. Find more information here. See below for the tour dates.
Burna Boy No Sign Of Weakness Tour Dates
11/12 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre*
11/16 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
11/18 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
11/19 – Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome
11/22 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
11/24 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
11/28 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
12/01 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
12/03 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
12/05 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
12/06 – Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
12/08 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
12/10 – Orlando, FL @ Kia Center
12/12 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
12/15 – Montréal, QC @ Bell Centre
12/17 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
12/18 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
The A24 logo has become a marker indicating that whatever you’re about to watch will more than likely be surreal, unexpected, clever, or otherwise thought-provoking, and executed at a high level, too. The early feedback for Eddington, A24’s latest, is promising: After its screening at Cannes in May, the film received a standing ovation that lasted nearly seven minutes and moved star Joaquin Phoenix to tears (as Deadline notes).
The film also serves as a reunion for Phoenix and writer/director Ari Aster, as they previously worked together on Beau Is Afraid. Aster has built up a rock-solid filmography beyond that and Eddington in just the past few years, with a fledgling library that also includes Hereditary and Midsommar.
As Eddington‘s wide theatrical release nears, read on to learn everything you need to know about the movie before you see it.
Plot
The A24 website briefly describes the plot: “In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.”
Variety’s review of the movie elaborates that it addresses tensions between people of differing opinions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s not the only parallel to real life, as the characters also contend with the George Floyd murder.
Cast
The movie has attracted quite the cast, led by heavy hitters like Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone.
In a New York Times interview, Aster noted of the film’s characters and narrative, “I see the film being about a bunch of people who are very isolated, who are unable to see the bigger world outside themselves. They only see the small world they believe in, and it’s about what happens when those people start colliding with each other, and how that leads to increasingly intense convictions. We end up amplifying each other’s paranoia and fear because there’s nothing in the ether to hold us together anymore, so it’s just me trying to look at it without judging any of these characters.”
Butler also previously teased in a Hollywood Reporter interview, “I don’t want to give much away as far as the story and character go, but it was a wild adventure that I got to go on. I got to play a character who’s very different from anything that I’ve done.”
Release Date
The film is set to hit theaters on July 18, following its Cannes debut on May 16.
Trailer
Check out the Eddington trailer and first look below.
Sophie stunned the electronic world with her debut release, the 2015 compilation Product. We lost Sophie too soon when she died in 2021, but her legacy has continued to grow since then. Now, fans can enjoy Product in a more expansive way with the new 10th-anniversary reissue that’s out now (physical editions will follow on July 11).
Most notable about the new edition of the collection are the two rare songs, “Ooh” and “Get Higher,” which were recorded and produced during the Product era. As a press release notes, “Ooh” was one of Sophie’s earliest recordings, with roots as far back as 2011, while Sophie completed the final version in 2019. Meanwhile, “Get Higher” is one that superfans know, as it made it onto the Japanese CD edition of Product as a bonus track.
Jaide Green, who sings on “Ooh,” said in a statement, “Sophie got in touch after seeing me on The X Factor. ‘Ooh’ stood out to me, it was fun, playful, and creative. It was clear the lyrics were very significant to Sophie, however it didn’t feel like your usual heartbreak song, it was uptempo and happy. Even still, there was a strength behind the words. I thought it was a perfect fit, pure genius.”
Listen to “Ooh” and “Get Higher” above. Below, find the Product tracklist.
One of the most striking is that Carpenter doesn’t hate the idea of banning phones at her concerts. When asked if she’d consider it, she responded:
“This will honestly piss off my fans, but absolutely. Because I went to see Silk Sonic in Vegas, and they locked my phone. I’ve never had a better experience at a concert. I genuinely felt like I was back in the Seventies — wasn’t alive. Genuinely felt like I was there. Everyone’s singing, dancing, looking at each other, and laughing. It really, really just felt so beautiful.
I’ve grown up in the age of people having iPhones at shows. It unfortunately feels super normal to me. I can’t blame people for wanting to have memories. But depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away. You cannot zoom in on my face. Right now, my skin is soft and supple. It’s fine. Do not zoom in on me when I’m 80 years old up there.”
So, it seems all the viral videos that emerge from her performances are safe for now, but enjoy them while you can.
British pop-soul star Lola Young has had a breakout year here in the States, beginning with Tyler The Creator’s Chromakopia co-sign “Like Him.” Since then, her single “Messy” has made a splash, as has her cover of Arctic Monkeys’ “Wanna Be Yours” and follow-up single “One Thing.” Now, she’s cashing in all that goodwill with the announcement of her new album, I’m Only F*cking Myself, due September 19th via Island Records. Its cover, which you can see below, bears a photo of Young embracing a blow-up doll with her face on it. The announcement comes just weeks after the reveal of her upcoming North American tour dates, which you can also see below.
I’m Only F*cking Myself is due on 9/19 via Island Records. You can find more info here.
Lola Young
Lola Young North American Tour Dates
11/01 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
11/04 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
11/05 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
11/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
11/09 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
11/11 – Nashville, TN @ The Pinnacle
11/12 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
11/19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
11/21 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
11/24 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
11/25 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
11/28 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore Auditorium
11/29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center
12/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
12/02 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater at Lumen Field
12/04 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/06 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
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