On September 19, the Jordan Peele-produced sports cult horror film Him hits theaters. At the same time, its soundtrack will land on DSPs, bringing a diverse array of music talents to the creepy narrative, led by the film’s composer Bobby Krlic, who also produces his own music under the eerie alias, The Haxan Cloak.
The rap-oriented soundtrack is said to feature appearances from a slew of hip-hop stars; two of them, Guapdad 4000 and Tierra Whack, not only appear in the film but have also shared their contributions today. Guapdad drops off “Swim” with Mavi, a surprisingly soulful but haunting, 808-heavy chest beater that finds the Oakland native comparing himself to Jay-Z and declaring himself an OG.
Meanwhile, Philly rapper Tierra Whack contributes the propulsive “Tip Toe,” traipsing along with a lilting flow over a menacing beat that sounds like being chased by a monster through a dark cavern (or a deranged football star through a labyrinthine private sports complex). The two rappers are joined on the soundtrack by a who’s-who of hip-hop rising stars and OGs including Denzel Curry, Gucci Mane, Larry June, Maxo Kream, and Mobb Deep.
Him is directed by Justin Tipping and stars Tyriq Withers as a promising football prospect who leaps at the chance to be mentored by his hero, played by Marlon Wayans, at his private practice facility. Once he gets there, though, he finds himself questioning how far down a sinister rabbit hole he’s willing to go to reach greatness.
In a press release, Krlic said, “Justin Tipping gave me the freedom to see how far I could bend the genre without losing the emotional thread. When Justin and I met, we clicked immediately. We’re the same age, grew up listening to a lot of the same music, and had the same reference points across film, art, food, everything. We were just singing from the same hymn sheet. It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had writing music for anything… There’s a school of thought that says a score should be invisible, but I don’t necessarily believe that. A great score should know when to guide the audience, when to surprise them and when to announce itself. If the process is right, it can tell as much of the story as anything else on screen.”
You can listen to “Swim” and “Tip Toe” above and check out the full Him soundtrack tracklist below.
01. Marlon Wayans – ̄”_(ツ)_/ ̄”
02. Gucci Mane – “Lemonade”
03. Bobby Krlic – “The Combine”
04. Maxo Kream – “Live That Life”
05. Bobby Krlic – “Goin’ To The League!”
06. Mobb Deep – “Shook Ones, Pt. II”
07. Bobby Krlic – “Find Your Own Way to Glory”
08. Tierra Whack – “Tip Toe”
09. Guapdad 4000 – “Swim” Feat. MAVI
10. LaRussell & Mike & Keys – “Party On The Westside” Feat. Larry June
11. Bobby Krlic – “Cameron Cade”
12. OG DAYV – “One And Only Him”
13. Bobby Krlic – “Dead Body Alert”
14. Sampa The Great – “GOAT”
15. Bobby Krlic – “All The Glory…All The Defeat”
16. Maglera Doe Boy & ONDELIVE – “Italy”
17. Bobby Krlic – “The Physical”
18. Ovrkast. – “CUT UP”
19. K.oran Streets – “Bill Russell”
20. Bobby Krlic – “Elsie”
21. Carl Angelo – “AIGHT?”
22. Bobby Krlic – “Discipline”
23. Bobby Krlic – “Real Killers”
24. Jean Dawson – “Blitz”
25. Bobby Krlic – “The Opposite of A Mascot”
26. Bobby Krlic – “USFF Theme”
27. Bobby Krlic – “Killing Spree”
28. Denzel Curr – “Him”
The Him soundtrack album is due on 9/19 via Loma Vista.
“Iconic” is an adjective thrown around far too casually in 2025, but when it comes to sweet treats, few embody that word quite like Oreo and Reese’s. The sandwich cookie and peanut buttercup are a category onto themselves, and we have these two… dare we say, “iconic” snacks to thank (or blame) for that.
Both Reese’s and Oreo experiment with new flavors and product offerings on a constant churn, but the melding of the two is not something we had anticipated.
So when we were offered an early sampling, we were game to give the products a spin. And of course we ranked them, because at the end of the day you’re probably only going to buy one of these. So we did it for you! Not because we’re totally obsessed with cookies or anything. Anyway, let’s dive in.
The peanut butter from the inside of a Reese’s, now on the inside of an Oreo sandwich, and we have to rank it against TWO types of peanut butter cups that have Oreo inside them? Not really a fair comparison and while we don’t rank the cookies above the cups, they’re worth your time in their own right – the Reese’s creamy but textured peanut butter filling works exceptionally well between two classic Oreo cookies. The result is a richer than usual Oreo, with a sweet and nutty aftertaste that ratchets the tasty and craveable factor up a notch.
Bottom Line:
Oreo’s really pumps out the special and seasonal flavors, to the point where we’ve contemplated ranking Oreo flavors. If we do end up calling our own bluff at some point, the Reese’s collab would probably rank pretty high on that list. But in this list, they’re at the bottom!
The mini cups seem like they’d be the top pick, but the smaller more stout version of the peanut butter cup is less well-proportioned in its layers. The mini cups’ thicker peanut-butter Oreo crumble interior is a bit grainier than its thinner hockey puck-style cousin, with bigger Oreo cookie bits and a thicker white chocolate cream top layer. The top “chocolate” layer mimics the creamy sweet flavor of the Oreo cookie filling, while the chocolate and peanut butter elements of the cups taste identical to any Reese’s cup you’ve already had.
The only knock here is the very sweet creamy aftertaste, but the peanut buttery and crunchy initial bites sort of balance it out.
Bottom Line:
Let’s be clear, the mini cups taste great and we’re splitting hairs here in service of the rankings. Anyone caught popping a bunch of these should not be looked down upon.
Start with a perfect thing and then add part of something else perfect and you have something sublime. The Reese’s x Oreo King Size cups have a white chocolate top layer, a creamy peanut butter filling with Oreo crumb bits folded in and a typical chocolate bottom layer. The peanut butter and chocolate aspects are true to any traditional peanut butter cup, while the sweet creamy top white chocolate layer nicely conjures up the Oreo filling. The Oreo bits do their part in creating that signature Oreo chocolate crunch inside the always creamy peanut butter filling, adding a welcome textural and flavor contrast.
Bottom Line:
A new classic, let’s hope they keep the Alien v Predator of sweet collabs on shelves as long as possible. Heavy kudos on the execution.
Over the past couple of weeks, Cardi B has been in court, defending herself from assault accusations. While a jury found her not liable for the $24 million demand from the plaintiff, Cardi’s antics on the stand resulted in a few viral moments that fans on social media couldn’t get enough of.
Never one to let an opportunity slip past her, Cardi found the perfect way to commemorate her court performance: by turning some of fans’ favorite photos from the proceedings into alternate covers for her upcoming album, Am I The Drama?
Cardi revealed the alt cover in a cheeky, low-budget promo on her Instagram. Standing outside barefoot in a Bride Of Chucky T-shirt, Cardi pulled CDs bearing the new covers from her shorts. “Due to popular demand, I got the Am I The Drama? CDs, court edition,” she announced.
She also joked that fans would be supporting “a single mother of three,” wondering “how am I going to live?” if the album flops. Of course, as she pointed out in “Imaginary Playerz,” even her flops are wins.
The photos are of Cardi wearing different colored wigs during her testimony; the wigs caught the world’s attention when the plaintiff’s attorney, apparently unfamiliar with women’s beauty regimens, asked Cardi about all the hair color, length, and style changes.
Her deadpanning, “It’s a wig,” endeared her even more to fans (and probably didn’t help the plaintiff’s case), and now, photos of the different colored wigs adorn the CD that will probably pay off her court fees in the first few hours of availability. Cardi B is a marketing genius.
Am I The Drama? is due on 9/19 via Atlantic Records. You can find more info here.
Justin Bieber’sSwag was a surprise album: He announced the project in July and it was out the next day. Well, it turns out there’s a Swag II and it’s also a sudden drop: Bieber announced it today (September 4) and it’ll be out at midnight as part of Friday’s new releases.
Bieber shared a variety of teasing posts on Instagram, mostly photos and videos of various billboards and signage announcing the album. He also shared what appears to be the cover art, which, like Swag before it, is minimal, but this time a bright pink instead of a dark black. He also posted a photo of two houses next to each other, one black and one pink and purple, comparing his albums to them, perhaps suggesting that Swag II will have a brighter sound than the original Swag.
Presumably, the new album was recorded at Iceland’s Flóki Studios, where he recorded Swag. Flóki Studios Director Wade Koeman recently told Uproxx, “I think some people, some artists, really excel and get into this place of creativity when all the distractions are gone. And that’s the idea of Flóki — you’re in the middle of nowhere in a place where, most of the time, you’ve never been. You’re just in this whole new environment and it’s beautiful and peaceful, yet it can be blizzarding and chaotic. It’s nature.”
Hey, so, remember how 2024 was one of the most contentious, pugilistic years in recent hip-hop history? Well, it didn’t start with that guy from Compton or his Canadian rival.
Well, that was then; this is now. They surprised fans last night by announcing they had teamed up to share a new song about something they both have in common: “Gyatt.” It certainly appears they’ve put all their tension behind them (heh), as they rap about draggin’ the sort of wagons that make men stop and yell, “Gyatt DAMN!” They also teased a music video, which will release at midnight.
“Lord have mercy / Shape real curvy / My man buys me sticks and stones, words can’t hurt me,” boasts Latto in her verse. Meanwhile, Ice Spice backs her up (heh) with, “That gyatt all on his hand / That gyatt fucked up his plans / This gyatt gon’ make me them bands / This gyatt gon’ make him my man.”
They’ve got a surprising amount of chemistry for a pair who were so recently at odds, but perhaps that’s because it was never really that serious in the first place. While Latto dismissed the idea of extended hostilities, Ice Spice merely called the exchange a “friendly competition.” It was entertaining, but seeing them team up at the end? That’s cinema, baby.
You can listen to Latto and Ice Spice’s new song “Gyatt” above.
When it comes to chemistry in indie rock, Big Thief is Alfred Nobel. It’s the No. 1 quality fans have zeroed in on from the beginning. I was first drawn to their magnetic camaraderie on 2016’s Masterpiece, which I adored for “the intangible feeling” of hearing skilled musicians come together and “become something greater than the sum of their parts.” Even Big Thief’s detractors have noted this unique closeness while mocking their polyamorous press photos, where they huddle together so tightly they resemble a literal four-headed creature.
Big Thief’s two frontline members, singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker and guitarist Buck Meek, were married briefly in the mid-2010s. But that romantic partnership was eventually overshadowed by the musical union formed with drummer James Krivchenia and bassist Max Oleartchik. As the band found its footing with 2017’s Capacity and the remarkable 2019 double shot of U.F.O.F. and Two Hands — and developed into a thrillingly adventurous, though occasionally haphazard, live act — each member stood out as an essential part of the overall whole. Their music was a delicate Jenga tower held in place by each well-placed piece. You could pick out the individual contributions, but Big Thief inhaled and exhaled as a singular organism. By 2022’s epochal Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, they could play the sound of the room as well as the songs themselves, as they invited the listener into a circle of friendship that felt uncommonly intimate.
But what happens when the circle is broken? That’s the dilemma of Double Infinity, their first album in three years and sixth LP overall. In 2024, they announced the departure of Oleartchik, a move they insisted was unrelated to the controversial booking (and subsequent cancelation) of two 2022 shows in the bassist’s hometown of Tel Aviv. In a recent interview with Vulture, they framed the separation more like a romantic breakup than a band PR decision. “There’ll never be anything like that again, like what we were,” Lenker admitted. Then she added, “We took a year alone and started dating.”
To carry over the metaphor, awkwardly: Big Thief have since transitioned to full-on musical bigamy. After trying to record as a trio, fruitlessly, they entered New York City’s Record Plant with a small army of collaborators, including 82-year-old ambient multi-instrumentalist Laraaji as well as several percussionists and backing singers, swelling their ranks to 13 musicians. (Joshua Crumbly is currently playing bass.) In the studio, they jammed for nine hours a day, and over the course of three weeks carved out nine songs. And those tracks ultimately diverged from their usual crunchy, folk-rock sound. Guitars were de-emphasized in the mix in favor of an amorphous wash of loops, samples, zither drones, and repetitive, mantra-like lyrical and melodic motifs.
It’s a marked reinvention that recalls bold pivots like R.E.M.’s late-’90s album Up, which also arrived after the departure of a core band member turned them into a three-piece augmented by auxiliary musicians. R.E.M. similarly attempted to push beyond their trademark folk rock by embracing decidedly non-folk-rock elements (drum machines, squawky synths, downbeat choruses).
On Double Infinity, Big Thief sound questing and expansive, purposely blurring instruments together to create gauzy soundscapes. It’s an ambitious, sumptuous, somewhat disorienting, and vaguely frustrating stew. In terms of sounding nothing like their previous albums, it is undoubtedly a progression. Whether it is an improvement (or up to their usual standards) is less definitive. I can admire certain parts of this record, but after playing it for weeks, I still can’t fully warm to it. It’s liquid-y and intangible, lacking the tactile flesh-and-blood sturdiness I expect from this band. It’s not a bad album by any means; It’s a solid effort that doesn’t come close to blowing me away, and I’m used to this band blowing me away. If Dragon felt like an epic bear hug, listening to Double Infinity is like trying, over and over, to embrace a cloud of dry-ice smoke.
There’s an interesting moment in that Vulture interview where they’re asked about whether they have “streamlined” their sound for a wider audience. An odd accusation given that Big Thief is, on record at least, literally larger than ever. “We got together in a room and jammed,” Lenker shot back, with palpable defensiveness. “Is that moneymaking?”
I wouldn’t describe Double Infinity as “streamlined.” And it certainly doesn’t come off like a bid for mainstream pop exposure. Big Thief is as idiosyncratic as they have ever been. Lyrically, the songs address the weight of the past, whether that baggage takes a physical form (the letters and photographs of the hazy “Incomprehensible,” the full “picture box” from the more robust and winning “Los Angeles”) or a spiritual one (the love and pain Lenker pledges to turn “into rock and roll” in “Grandmother”). The latter track is the best song on the album, and it benefits from the jammy approach to songwriting. It doesn’t carry the punch of past highlights like “Not” and “Time Escaping,” but the slow build sets an entrancing mood over the course of six mesmerizing minutes. The same can be said of “No Fear,” an even longer jam that unfolds like a quietly intense prayer, with Lenker seeking a “mind so clear, mind so free.”
It’s a shame that the heaviness of the words is sometimes undercut by the soft-focus sonics. Again, Big Thief hasn’t “gone pop,” exactly, though the rawness of Masterpiece certainly feels like a distant memory. When I interviewed Meek in 2023, he hinted that Big Thief might be moving in a “screamo” direction, an intimation of a more aggressive turn he reiterated elsewhere. But that clearly didn’t carry through to this record, which at times veers into languid adult-contemporary territory. I’m thinking specifically of the least successful tracks — the sweet but monotonous love song “Happy With You” and the equally cringy “All Night All Day,” an ode to oral sex where Lenker praises God “or whatever made the mouth / to drink the pleasure.”
These are, it pains me to say, among the worst songs to ever appear on a Big Thief record. (I can remember Big Thief records with zero bad songs.) And they sound even weaker when placed next to “How Could I Have Known,” the most “conventionally Big Thief-sounding” song on the album. Over a relatively stripped-down mix of rollicking drums and campfire harmonies, Lenker relates a melancholy farewell to an ex-lover. “How could I have known / in that moment / what we’d turn into,” she sings.
It’s an echo of the past underscoring the confusion of the present, and coming at the end of the record, it’s a tacit acknowledgment of how much remains unsettled for Big Thief. All the allusions to past mementos and broken relationships read as attempts to process that the “classic” version of this band won’t, as Lenker herself admits, ever exist ever again. Like much of Double Infinity, “How Could I Have Known” sounds like trying to move on while struggling to imagine what “moving on” means. For now, adding so many extra players has somehow made them feel smaller. Big Thief has been a great band for many years now. What they’re turning into remains unclear.
Double Infinity is out 9/5 via 4AD. Find more information here.
Fortnite has become increasingly intertwined with the music world, via Fortnite Festival and beyond. Now it’s d4vd’s turn and he’s giving the game a first, by providing “Locked & Loaded,” their first official anthem.
The song also comes with a high-energy animated video, which also features Fortnite gameplay and footage of competitors at the Fortnite Champion Series event. The song serves as the soundtrack for the 2025 Fortnite Global Championship, which starts on September 6 in Lyon, France.
d4vd said in a statement:
“Fortnite has been such a big part of my life and it’s what led me to make music in the first place. Being able to create the official anthem for Fortnite feels like a true full-circle moment. Fortnite gave me a space to be creative and connect with people all over the world, and that same energy is what I wanted to put into this track. It’s more than a song — it’s me giving back to something that’s shaped my story as an artist. And even now, playing Fortnite is still my true passion.”
Listen to “Locked & Loaded” above. Also find d4vd’s upcoming tour dates below.
d4vd’s 2025 Tour Dates: Withered
09/05 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre*
09/06 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed*
09/07 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee*
09/09 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore Minneapolis*
09/10 — Kansas City, MO @ The Truman*
09/12 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom%
09/13 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex%
09/15 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom%
09/16 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo%
09/19 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield%
09/20 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre%
10/01 — Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene#
10/03 — Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA#
10/04 — Stockholm, SE @ Fryshuset Arenan#
10/06 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria#
10/09 — Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg#
10/10 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso#
10/12 — Brussels, BE @ La Madeleine#
10/14 — Dublin, IE @ 3Olympia Theatre&
10/15 — Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy&
10/16 — Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Galvanizers&
10/18 — Bristol, UK @ SWX Bristol&
10/20 — London, UK @ Roundhouse&
10/23 — Paris, FR @ Élysée Montmartre&
10/26 — Zurich, CH @ X-TRA#
10/27 — Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt#
10/30 — Frankfurt, DE @ ZOOM Frankfurt#
11/01 — Vienna, AT @ Gasometer#
11/02 — Prague, CZ @ ARCHA+#
11/04 — Warsaw, PL @ Klub Stodola#
* with Bryant Barnes
% with Yung Kai
# with Saga Faye
& with MOIO
All signs are pointing to use having new Gorillaz music soon. Earlier this year, Damon Albarn indicated the band would have a new album out in 2025. Then, in August, after announcing a four-night concert residency that included a mystery show, Albarn suggested that performance would feature some new music.
It sure did feature new music. It went down in London yesterday (September 3) and it saw the band debut a whole new album.
It was a phone-free concert, so there is no fan-shot footage of it circulating. Per setlist.fm, though, the band played 12 songs. The titles of most of them are unknown, but we have some reported names: “The Happy Dictator” with Sparks, “Fresh Arrivals” with Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey, and “The Sad God” with The Roots’ Black Thought and Kara Jackson.
Other guests included Idles’ Joe Talbot, Johnny Marr, Asha Puthli, Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Paul Simonon, Ajay Prasanna, Trueno, and Anoushka Shankar.
As NME notes, some in attendance shared their positive thoughts about the new music online. One wrote, “The soundscape of this album is like nothing I’ve ever heard from this band, it’s absolutely breathtaking. There is a track that had me sobbing 10 seconds in, Almost perfect album. Gorillaz really outdid themselves with this one.” Another said, “The album was heavy on Indian tunes. The orchestra was quite large: four strings, four backing vocalists, three Indian instruments, etc.”
There’s no official word that a new Tame Impala album is on the way, but Kevin Parker is definitely in the middle of launching a new era. He did so formally last month with the release of “End Of Summer,” a new single that sees Parker pursuing a more dance-inspired direction.
Teasers from a few days ago seemed to indicate that the next Tame Impala single would be a collaboration with Djo, the musical alias of Stranger Things star Joe Keery. Now we know that’s only somewhat true: “Loser” is out today (September 3) and it’s just a Tame Impala song, but the video does star Keery.
The video sees Keery dealing with the aftermath of apparently upsetting a woman. The song itself isn’t as much of a dance number as the single that preceded, leaning more into Parker’s contemporary psychedelic sound.
Meanwhile, Parker recently reflected on the tenth anniversary of his album Currents, writing on social media, “I had more than one existential crisis during the making and release of this album. I couldn’t tell if it was great or embarrassingly bad, not to mention the fans I would lose by switching up music styles so heavily. People recently have asked me if i was feeling pretty chuffed with myself after making this album and the answer is always absolutely not! There was often so much doubt, but I knew it was an album I had to make.”
The Maxime Quoilin-directed video mirrors the sense of tension in the song, quickly cycling through high-contrast, black-and-white imagery of Reznor and Ross as well as anything else that looks visually interesting in this context.
Reznor recently told Empire of the score, “I’ll give a few spoilers: there’s not one second of orchestra in our score. It sounds precise and unpleasant at times. It’s not an atonal, punishing score, but we spent a lot of time thinking about the undertones of what’s happening in the story. The concept of artificial life infused with feelings and emotions and a sense of questioning their purpose and their replaceability, their lack of soul, in some ways. We kind of riffed on that.”
Watch the “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” video above and find the Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) cover art and tracklist below, along with NIN’s upcoming tour dates.
Nine Inch Nails’ Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Album Cover Artwork
Interscope Records
Nine Inch Nails’ Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Tracklist
1. “Init”
2. “Forked Reality”
3. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”
4. “Echoes”
5. “This Changes Everything”
6. “In The Image Of”
7. “I Know You Can Feel It”
8. “Permanence”
9. “Infiltrator”
10. “100% Expendable”
11. “Still Remains”
12. “Who Wants To Live Forever?”
13. “Building Better Worlds”
14. “Target Identified”
15. “Daemonize”
16. “Empathetic Response”
17. “What Have You Done?”
18. “A Question Of Trust”
19. “Ghost In The Machine”
20. “No Going Back”
21. “Nemesis”
22. “New Directive”
23. “Out In The World”
24. “Shadow Over Me”
Nine Inch Nails’ 2025 Tour Dates: Peel It Back World Tour
09/03 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
09/05 — Raleigh, NC @ Lenovo Center
09/06 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
09/09 — Duluth, GA @ Gas South Arena
09/10 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
09/12 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
09/13 — Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
09/16 — Phoenix, AZ @ PHX Arena
09/18 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
09/19 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is out 9/19 via Interscope Records. Find more information here.
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