Maybe you’ve seen Cil opening for Stevie Nicks, or maybe you saw that InStyle named her as one of their 25 musicians to watch this year. Whatever the case, Cil is here, as her new EP Don’t Hold Me Accountable is out today (May 30).
The release arrives alongside a video for project highlight “Hot Sh*t.” The piano-led bop is ready for the incoming summer, and if you’d like to hear it on stage, Cil is performing at WeHo Pride this weekend, on June 1 at 7:50 p.m. PT.
On a new episode of the Women In Pop podcast, Cil explained the inspiration behind the album:
“The title is definitely ironic, but it’s not at the same time. It was during the time that I was writing this I was going through a very toxic time in my life. I was going back to old habits, old things, old people, and everybody in my life was like, ‘You know this isn’t healthy for you, we worry about you, we want you to be okay,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I hear you guys and I’m completely aware of what’s going on, but […] I’m warning you, I’m going to go back. It’s like, ‘Okay, yes, thank you for being there for me, but don’t hold me accountable.”
I didn’t want to change, I didn’t want to say goodbye to those cycles, and the only thing that changed that was me, and the music also was honestly a catalyst to forcing me to change, because once I wrote it out all on the page, once I recorded it and I heard myself telling me all of these things, I was like, ‘Oh, this is… yeah, you got to go.”
Watch the “Hot Sh*t” video above and find the Don’t Hold Me Accountable cover art and tracklist below.
Cil’s Don’t Hold Me Accountable Album Cover Artwork
Warner Records
Cil’s Don’t Hold Me Accountable Tracklist
1. “You’re A Liar (You Love Me)”
2. “Loser”
3. “Hot Sh*t”
4. “Pretty Years”
5. “Forgot To Be My Lover”
6. “Don’t Pick Up”
7. “Rhythm Of Love”
Don’t Hold Me Accountable is out now via Warner Records. Find more information here.
Lil Tecca‘s a few years removed from his viral breakout, “Ransom,” and since then, he’s evolved both artistically and personally. That growth was recently seen most starkly on Tecca’s March single “Dark Thoughts,” but remains in his latest release, the Buggles-sampling “OWA OWA.”
Crafted around an interpolation of the portentous 1979 hit, “Video Killed The Radio Star,” “OWA OWA” presents Tecca as the ultimate ladies’ man. “She want a pop star, rock star
I got new hoes on my roster, I’m proper / Look through my records, say that’ll cost ya /
It’s a long time tryna get to Waukesha,” he raps.
In the video, Tecca takes a date to the arcade (it looks like a Round 1, a growing chain packed with Japanese-style arcade and claw games and karaoke rooms, along with bowling and the like), and roams through a grassy field, performing in front of a graffitied wall reading “Dopamine” –which could be the title of Tecca’s next project. After all, he’s currently gearing up for his Dopamine Experience tour in Europe, so it would stand to reason that Dopamine might be his next full-length album. We should be receiving more info in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
New Conan Gray era alert: The Uproxx cover star announced his new album, Wishbone, last week, and now he’s back with a video for a new single, “This Song.” His latest album, last year’s Found Heaven, was overtly ’80s-inspired, but that’s not the case with “This Song,” which has a vintage feel but isn’t overtly retro.
On top of the song and video, Gray also announced The Wishbone Pajama Show, a tour kicking off in September. Ticket sales start with an artist pre-sale, sign-ups for which are open now until June 1 at 10 a.m. PT. The general on-sale starts June 5 at 10 a.m. local time. More information is available on Gray’s website.
Gray previously wrote of the new album, “over the past two years, i’ve been secretly writing songs. after shows in the basements of the venues, in the sheets of my hotel beds, in narrow gaps between tours— i’d come back home and write all the things i felt nobody wanted to hear. maybe even the things i didn’t want people to hear. i didn’t tell my friends. i didn’t tell my label. after all, i didn’t know i was making anything, and i had no plan to release any of it. […] i played the songs to the very first person i’d ever made music with, [producer and writer Dan Nigro], and i began to record. i didn’t know why i was recording, i just was. i didn’t know what story i was telling, i was just living in it. slowly i started to see myself in full picture. the slivers of myself i’d always been, but never faced. the songs i’d always been writing, but never singing.”
Watch the “This Song” video above and find Gray’s upcoming tour dates below.
Conan Gray’s 2025 Tour Dates: The Wishbone Pajama Show
09/11 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
09/13 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
09/14 — Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
09/16 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Petersen Events Center
09/17 — Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
09/19 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
09/20 — Fairfax, VA @ EagleBank Arena
09/22 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live
09/24 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater
09/26 — Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
09/28 — St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
09/29 — Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
10/01 — West Valley City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/03 — Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/04 — San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
10/06 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/16 — Mexico City, MX @ Palacio de los Deportes
10/17 — Guadalajara, MX @ Auditorio Telmex
10/19 — Monterrey, MX @ Auditorio Banamex
Wishbone is out 8/15 via Republic Records. Find more information here.
Golden State Warriors guard, and Drake superfan, Steph Curry is getting his own sports drink. Launched a couple of months back in partnership with Michelle Obama’s PLEZi Nutrition, PLEZi Hydration follows the company’s mission of creating healthier alternatives to popular snacks with a laser focus on the sort of performance-enhancing nutrients and ingredients we expect from a hydrating sports drink.
If you want to be at the top of your game, you’re going to have to hydrate, but if your way of hydrating is guzzling down a high sugar drink, aren’t you doing more harm than good? We’re all looking for an edge and something that brings a little more to the table than just water alone, but not at the expense of putting on unwanted pounds and dealing with a sugar surge come down? Enter PLEZi as an alternative.
But putting aside the science and star power for a second, how does it taste? We gave it a shot to see if you should too.
PLEZi Hydration
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
The Lemon Lime flavor has a pleasantly faint apple smell on the nose, while across the palate we’re getting a touch of citrus, some juicy pear notes, and a zesty kick at the back of the throat. The drink is surprisingly subtle and nuanced, way more so than expected from a sports drink.
That is also subtly present in the Tropical Punch flavor. Rather than attacking your taste buds with intense sweetness like the other sports drinks on the market, PLEZi’s Tropical Punch is tame. Again, I’m tasting pear, but also juicy berry notes, with a subtle dry and tart finish that is reminiscent of pineapple and cranberry. It doesn’t deliver that onslaught of dopamine that tasting the competition provides, but it tastes noticeably healthier, which is what the brand is clearly going for.
If you want to experience the absolute best of the best, you’re going to want to reach for the Orange Mango Twist. Now, full disclosure — I’m not the biggest mango fan, so my expectations for this one were pretty low. What I found was a pleasant bouquet of tropical fruit flavors like watermelon and mango with a twist of orange citrus, again, more pear, and a lingering finish that stayed on the tongue the way a good piece of fruit does, rather than the bad-breath-inducing tongue stain that something like a sugary juice “drink” provides.
The Bottom Line:
Consider us sufficiently impressed with what PLEZi is delivering here. If you’re in the habit of drinking hydrating sports drinks but want something healthier, and more nuanced and complex in your rotation, PLEZi is the move. For the best flavor, hit Orange Mango Twist first.
PLEZi Hydration can be found in California at Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, and Pavillions, or nationwide on Amazon.
Two of SoundCloud rap‘s late heroes finally unite on the “Whoa (Mind In Awe)” remix. XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD only ever really crafted one song together — the original version of “Whoa” — but it’s only now that the world gets an official release. Juice had recorded the verse specifically for XXXTentacion’s song “Whoa,” but both artist passed before they were able to finish the collaboration.
However, both artists’ estates have since teamed up to ensure that the dream collab becomes a reality, releasing “Whoa” in conjunction with a touching music video following a group of kids in Jamaica pursuing their own dreams. The video aligns with the song’s theme of “doing things with meaning and following your dreams,” while its shooting location ties into their shared roots, with families from Jamaica.
Additionally, the soccer jerseys worn by the children in the video are being made available in a limited-edition release, the proceeds of which will go to the XXXTentacion Foundation and Juice WRLD’s 999 Foundation. They’ll help support youth, community, and infrastructure in Jamaica and mental health resources. The kits will be available for purchase on Friday, May 30 at 12:00 PM Pacific at xxxtentacion.com.
You can listen to XXXTentacion’s “Whoa (Mind In Awe) Remix” featuring Juice WRLD above.
Leon Thomas’ new album Mutt has been the definition of a breakout; its self-titled lead single was a viral hit, propelling him to an appearance on Tiny Desk, a Best New Artist nomination at the upcoming BET Awards, and collaborations with stars likeHalle Bailey, Freddie Gibbs, and Ty Dolla Sign.
This week, he updated the album, releasing a deluxe edition titled Heel. Nine new songs, such as “Not Fair,” a James Fauntleroy-produced standout, and the Big Sean-featuring “Party Favors,” mark a shift in the unapologetic outlook of the original album, presenting a Leon Thomas that isn’t quite housebroken yet, but might just be on his way there.
On “Not Fair,” Thomas sings about a romantic rendezvous, but instead of being the swaggering lothario, he’s a helpless servant to his impulses and his partner’s charms. “It’s not fair,” he croons. “How you just gon’ take off your clothes and sit right there? / How you just do whatever you want? / How you gon’ put a spell on me just to front? / How you keep make me falling in love, it’s just not fair.”
You can listen to Leon Thomas’ “Not Fair” above.
The Mutt deluxe edition, Heel, is out now via EZMNY Records and Motown Records. You can find more info here.
Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.
Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of our favorite vinyl releases of May below.
Daniel Blumberg — The Brutalist: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
A24
The Brutalist was a darling at the Academy Awards and Blumberg’s score was definitely a contributing factor to the film’s acclaim, notably taking home a statue for it. Before picking it up on its new vinyl edition, A24 shared this great video a few months ago that offers an inside look at the music.
Mariah Carey — The Emancipation Of Mimi (20th Anniversary Edition)
Def Jam Records/UMe
Kaytranada delivered a superb remix of Mariah Carey’s “Don’t Forget About Us” in April, and that was part of a new reissue campaign. The highlight is the 5LP version, which features three discs of bonus tracks and a letter from Carey herself. You also get the long-awaited release of “When I Feel It” after a 20-year wait, which should satisfy the many fans who have been seeking it.
Miles Davis — Bitches Brew (55th Anniversary Edition)
MoFi
Bitches Brew, simply put, is one of the albums you think of first when you think of jazz. This year, the Miles Davis classic turns 55 years old and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is offering the opportunity to hear the best-sounding version of it, with a reissue sourced from the original master tapes and limited to 5,000 numbered copies.
Åsman is a newer face in the jazz realm, and like Bitches Brew, When You Know is fueled by adventure and experimentation. It incorporates influences from R&B, electronic, and ambient music, and the striking album art looks great blown up to vinyl proportions.
Stapleton is one of the biggest crossover artists in contemporary country music, and it all started with his debut album, 2015’s Traveler. To mark a decade of the project, there are now several different pressings of the album, with colors varying depending on where you buy (the ruby version in particular is a stunner).
David Bazan had a productive run of albums, but with Headphones, there was only the well-received self-titled album. The synth-led project has a new 20th-anniversary reissue, which comes in a gatefold jacket featuring expanded artwork and new liner notes.
It’s a good time to be Morgan Wallen: Right now, he has both the No. 1 album and song in the country (he has the top three songs, actually). This is thanks to I’m The Problem, a 37-track, near-2-hour behemoth of an album.
Horizon is quite the project, indebted to both orchestral jazz and Brazilian MPB. The retro-inspired album is a great one to own on vinyl, especially with the lovely, semi-transparent “lake glass green” pressing.
Anybody who’s been paying attention to Rico’sLethal album cycle knows it’s been a high-effort affair when it comes to the visuals. That extends to the vinyl, too, which almost certainly won’t look like anything else in your library, given that it’s shaped like a saw blade.
Alanis Morissette — Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (Reissue)
Maverick/Reprise
Many have taken spiritual journeys to India, but rarely is what comes out of it as good as Morissette’s 1998 album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Now’s a great time to revisit or listen for the first time, too, as this Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissue is the first-ever audiophile edition.
These days, Addison Rae is a legitimate part of the modern pop landscape thanks to songs like the viral 2024 hit “Diet Pepsi” and the more recent “Fame Is A Gun.” “Diet Pepsi” was the first song of this run, but it’s actually her second single overall. Her first one was “Obsessed,” which wasn’t exactly well-received upon its release in 2021.
Rae still has love for the song, though. In fact, she thinks it could one day earn an updated perception like that of Paris Hilton’s single “Stars Are Blind.”
On a new episode of The New York Times’s Popcast, Rae said, “I actually think one day, ‘Obsessed’ will get its ‘Stars Are Blind’ moment, you know? People will be like, ‘Oh, we actually love it.’”
She also discussed the impact the song’s lack of success had on her, saying:
“I felt definitely a little beaten down. I was like, ‘Oh, wait, I can’t just have fun and explore. People are not gonna allow that. I have too many people actually giving an opinion on this for it to be as free as I want it to be.’ So, yeah, it definitely hurt. I kept writing though. I didn’t let that stop me from writing.”
Watch the full interview above.
Addison is out 6/6 via Columbia Records. Find more information here.
Every month, Uproxx cultural critic Steven Hyden makes an unranked list of his favorite music-related items released during this period — songs, albums, books, films, you name it.
1. Wednesday — “Elderberry Wine”
A kinder, gentler side of Wednesday. After the barbed-wire story songs of 2023’s Rat Saw God, Karly Hartzmann and the crew are back with this fulsome slice of country pop. It’s sort of a love song and sort of a daydream about escaping a small town. “Sometimes in my head I give up and / Flip the board completely,” Hartzmann sings, though that gently sighing pedal-steel lick softens the desperation a little. If this song is teasing an album — there’s no announcement yet, but one presumably looms on the horizon — it’s an interesting zag from “Bull Believer,” the furious bovine-sized rocker that previewed Rat Saw God. That song felt like a line in the sand; “Elderberry Wine,” meanwhile, is a warm-hearted invitation.
2. Florry — Sounds Like…
The Philadelphia band Florry first came across my radar in 2023, upon the release of their third album, The Holey Bible. Led by singer-songwriter Francie Medosch, who started the project when she was a teenager, Florry is part of the same country-rock solar system that includes Wednesday and MJ Lenderman (whose 2022 LP Boat Songs was put out by Florry’s label, the rising indie Dear Life Records). What set The Holey Bible apart was its ragged, blown-out sound. It was more like a bootleg of studio jams than a normal “proper” album. The aesthetic was summed up by the title of the first single: “Drunk And High.” And that carries over to the new Sounds Like…, which is slightly less anarchic but nowhere close to slick.
3. Friendship — Caveman Wakes Up
It’s been a big year for F-word bands. There’s Florry (who I just talked about) and Fust (who I talked about last month) and now Friendship. All of them are part of the Wednesday/MJ Lenderman Cinematic Universe, which is another plus. (You might have seen the video of Friendship singer Dan Wriggens doing “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” with Lenderman earlier this month.) And the drummer and bass player run Dear Life Records, the great indie label that acts as a hub for the scene. Is that enough bona fides for you? How about the album itself, one of the best of 2025’s first half? On Caveman Wakes Up, Wriggens plugs into the same wryly literate indie-country lane that David Berman pioneered in the ’90s, with stories of downbeat struggle rendered with wit and insight, courtesy of a barstool poet’s knowing eye.
4. Counting Crows — Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!
I have written enough on this band to confidently declare that I’m in the top .1 percent of music critics who are pro-Counting Crows. And not just the ’90s stuff, either. I have kind words for the entire catalog. While his songwriting pace has slowed considerably, Adam Duritz is quietly among the most consistent artists of the alt-rock generation. And that carries over to the latest album, which amends a 2021 EP with five (mostly great) new tracks. So, I say this with love: The album title is awful. And so is the cover. Why must you make my advocacy for your later period work so difficult, Counting Crows? Songs like “With Love, From A-Z” and “Boxcars” are as good as the phrase “Butter Miracle” is bad.
5. Alien Boy — You Wanna Fade?
It’s been a while (too long!) since 2021’s Don’t What Know What I Am, which made my best of list that year. But I’m happy to report that these canny Portland power-poppers have justified the wait with an even better record. While Alien Boy is often classified as emo, You Wanna Fade? shows that they’re really just a great pop-rock band with a stealth knack for melodramatic grandiosity. The melodies come fast and furious, but the moody guitar tones ground the music in a kind of magnetic melancholy, like Fountains Of Wayne if they sounded more like Disintegration.
6. The Convenience — Like Cartoon Vampires
My podcast co-host Ian Cohen sometimes talks about resisting bands that seem almost too well-suited to his tastes. It’s a natural critical impulse: Do I really like this thing, or do I like the things this thing is referencing? This thought crossed my mind after hearing The Convenience, a duo from New Orleans who essentially make straight-up “normal guy” indie rock in the vein of Spoon and Parquet Courts. But I didn’t dwell on it for too long. This kind of music always seems easier to make than it actually does, and the craft on Like Cartoon Vampires is just impossible to deny.
7. Home Is Where — Hunting Season
This Florida band has made some of the most thematically ambitious emo records of the 2020s. But songwriter Bea MacDonald has always been a closet Bob Dylan head, though that influence has typically been more theoretical than tangible. Hunting Season marks the point where MacDonald’s Dylan worship becomes more overt. While the delivery of the songs is as impassioned and punk-fueled as ever, the country-flavored instrumentation and MacDonald’s Rolling Thunder Revue-style howl pull Home Is Where in a ragged folk-rock direction. Play it fucking loud, indeed.
8. Goose — Everything Must Go
Jam bands aren’t supposed to make well-crafted albums. But Goose is making a habit of it. Their primary influences (aughts-era indie pop like Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, and Bon Iver, as well as, of course, prime-era Phish) are readily apparent, as is the beefed-up production courtesy of long-time collaborator D. James Goodwin. But unlike Goose’s previous studio LP, 2022’s Dripfield, Everything Must Go also affords ample space for jammy instrumental interludes. (All of the tracks are at least five minutes long.) The result is the band’s heftiest and most satisfying studio effort yet.
9. Eli Winter — A Trick Of The Light
This Chicago composer and guitarist truly gives equal attention to both sides of that equation. The 16-minute album opener “Arabian Nightingale” is a full-on exploration of mood and texture, with Winter’s probing guitar working in conversation with wild saxophone wails. It sounds like an improvised jam, but Winter also writes real songs, which is evidenced by the album’s shorter tracks that are no less expansive even if they seem more, well, composed.
Mariah Carey’s focus lately has been on a 20th-anniversary edition of The Emancipation Of Mimi, and the package includes some great extras. That includes fresh remixes from some familiar faces, like this Kaytranada rework that dropped in April.
The full reissue is out now, so we can finally hear Solange’s remix of “Say Somethin’,” which gives the song a bit of a woozy chopped ‘n screwed vibe. The remix is exclusive to the Digital Deluxe Edition.
Another new track of note is “When I Feel It,” which isn’t exactly new: It was intended for the original album but was ultimately scrapped due to clearance issues (it samples The Dynamic Superiors’ “Here Comes That Feeling”), but now it’s finally available. Fans are pretty excited.
Carey previously said of the reissue, “I’m really happy to celebrate ‘Mimi’s Emancipation’ with this special anniversary re-release. While working on this edition, I got to relive all the memories from this pivotal moment in my personal and professional life. This album has some of my biggest hits to date, as well as some personal favorites that are very special to me. Forgotten gems, unreleased bonus tracks and different remixes with incredible collaborators — all of these and more are now available in one place for the first time ever!”
Listen to “Say Somethin’ (Solange Southern Star Remix)” above.
The Emancipation Of Mimi (20th Anniversary Edition) is out now via Def Jam/UMe. Find more information here.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
