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“Knees Deep,” the latest Expert In A Dying Field single from The Beths, is all about singer Liz Stokes acknowledging her hesitance and fear. Appropriately, then, the video is a bungee jumping-focused visual. The band members gradually get into the thrill-seeking pastime before eventually convincing the not-so-sure Stokes to give it a go herself.

Stokes says of the song, “I’m the kind of person who wants to go swimming, but takes like ten minutes to get all the way into the cold water, slowly and painfully. I hate this about myself, and am kind of envious of people who can just jump straight in the deep end. In a shocking twist, this is also a metaphor?! For how I wish I was the kind of person who was brave and decisive instead of cautious and scared.”

The band also announced a headlining North American tour for 2023, which runs for about a month from February to March.

Watch the “Knees Deep” video above and find The Beths’ upcoming tour dates below.

08/16/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Here and There Festival, Salt Shed
08/18/2022 — St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
08/19/2022 — Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
08/20/2022 — Covington, KY (Cincinnati) @ Madison Live
08/22/2022 — Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
08/23/2022 — Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry
08/25/2022 — Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
08/26/2022 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
08/27/2022 — Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music
08/28/2022 — Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
08/31/2022 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall
09/01/2022 — Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
09/15/2022 — Melbourne, AU @ 170 Russell
09/16/2022 — Sydney, AU @ Metro Theatre
09/17/2022 — Brisbane, AU @ The Triffid
09/20/2022 — Adelaide, AU @ The Gov
09/21/2022 — Perth, AU @ Magnet House
09/23/2022 — Wellington, NZ @ Opera House
09/24/2022 — Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal
09/30/2022 — Christchurch, NZ @ James Hay Theatre
10/01/2022 — Dunedin, NZ @ The Glenroy
10/07/2022 — Auckland, NZ @ Auckland Town Hall
02/16/2023 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
02/17/2023 — Seattle, WA @ Neumos
02/22/2023 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
02/24/2023 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
02/26/2023 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/28/2023 — Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
03/02/2023 — New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
03/03/2023 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
03/04/2023 — Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
03/06/2023 — Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
03/07/2023 — Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Heaven
03/08/2023 — Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
03/10/2023 — Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn
03/11/2023 — Dallas, TX @ Tulips
03/14/2023 — Denver, CO @ Summit
03/16/2023 — Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
03/17/2023 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda
03/18/2023 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

Expert In A Dying Field is out 9/16 via Carpark Records. Pre-order it here.

Not everyone likes science facts, but sometimes having the right teacher is enough to pique your interest in a subject you normally don’t care for. TikTok user Mamadou Ndiaye, who goes by the handle @mndiaye_97 on the platform, uses humor to relay interesting animal facts. He has amassed an impressive 15 million followers and more than 833 million likes.

We’ve all seen people discuss animals on television. The entire world knows who Steve Irwin is and we all watch proudly as his two kids continue the legacy of animal education, but Ndiaye isn’t out there jumping on the backs of alligators. No, he’s speaking in an almost monotone voice while humorously relating how crows are a menace to society and camels have a serious revenge problem. How Ndiaye mixes facts with humor and a straight face is really a talent you can’t appreciate until you see it for yourself and it’s obvious from his follower count that his style works.

@mndiaye_97

The ocean never disappoints #whale#nature#moreyouknow#ocean

Ndiaye takes facts about animals that we didn’t even realize we wanted to know and makes them interesting and easily digestible. Perusing his account you can learn out about dwarf sperm whales, which evidently have a sack that releases a reddish-brown fluid when stressed to confuse predators. Ndiaye jokes about the liquid in the video saying, “It looks like chocolate syrup but I can only assume it doesn’t taste as good.”

@mndiaye_97

I knew i wasnt crazy #didyouknow#learnontiktok#moreyouknow#learnsomethingnew#bug

In another video he deadpans about how flies, bees and mosquitos are racially motivated. You’d think he was fully joking, but, of course, he backs it up with facts and it’s quite helpful. Let’s just say his followers will be stocking up on light-colored clothing and, thanks to his unique style, the information will stick. And if you’re interested in his furthering your education about wildlife outside of social media, he has a book titled “100 Animals Than Can F*cking End You.”

While this guy may not be climbing trees to give us up-close and personal views of the animals he’s teaching about, he’s certainly entertaining. Someone needs to give him a TV show because it would quickly become a household favorite.

In recent years, the NBA, its players, and teams have become more prominent voices in encouraging fans to vote and be involved in local, state, and national elections. Some organizations have been able to use their arenas as voting locations, while teams and players have held voting registration drives and events to encourage their community to be more civically engaged.

This year, the league as a whole will further that initiative by giving all 30 teams Election Day off, as there will be no games on Tuesday, November 8 to ensure that team employees and fans are all encouraged to take the day to go vote and be part of the election process.

“The scheduling decision came out of the NBA family’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement and encouraging fans to make a plan to vote during midterm elections,” the league said Tuesday, per ESPN.

Election Day now joins Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve as days off on the NBA schedule, with all 30 teams playing on November 7 where they will be using that night to encourage fans to vote the next day. The late start of the 2020 season allowed for teams to use their arenas as voting sites, and now with the knowledge that they won’t have any games that day, they can do the same this year.

Donald Trump‘s lawyer is making one heck of a request as the former president finds himself under investigation for allegedly violating the Espionage Act, which sparked last week’s raid on Mar-a-Lago. While appearing on Newsmax, Allina Habba revealed that she’s demanding the Department of Justice reveal the witness(es) who claimed to have seen top secret documents being mishandled at Trump’s Florida residence. Her argument? The names are going to come out anyway, so might as well get it over with.

“The president’s position, the same as what I would advise him, is to ask them to uncover everything so that we can see what is going on,” Habba said. “I understand the witness protection issue, but at the same time, these witnesses are truly not going to be concealed for very long.”

While the names of the witnesses wouldn’t be revealed unless the DOJ moves forward with charges, Habba believes the DOJ will find a way to release them anyway. Via Raw Story:

Habba, however, suggested that the law enforcement agencies would leak out the names of the witnesses, despite the fact that such a leak would be beneficial to Trump’s lawyers and could jeopardize cooperation from other potential witnesses in the case.

“It’s in the best interest so that the country can get comfortable to see what the basis was, especially from someone who was cooperating,” she claimed.

Obviously, it’s very strange for Trump’s lawyer to demand to know who ratted him out. The whole thing is definitely giving off mob vibes. As for who could’ve flipped on Trump, there are a few suspects: Former chief-of-staff Mark Meadows is a name that’s mentioned frequently; the Secret Service could’ve done the deed; and Jared Kushner is in the mix. Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has even gone so far as to say one of Trump’s own children could’ve turned to avoid jail time.

In short, there’s a long list of cronies who could’ve turned on Trump. Heck, Rudy Giuliani is getting squeezed right now in the Georgia election meddling investigation, so there’s a very good chance that it could be multiple somebodies who threw Trump under the bus.

(Via Raw Story)

It’s pretty undeniable that Beyonce is one of the great hitmakers of our generation. But just how great of a hitmaker is she? With “Break My Soul,” the lead single from her latest album, Renaissance, burning up the chart, now might be the perfect time to reflect on all the other times Beyonce has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Beyonce’s chart history reveals that she’s had eight No. 1 hits since her making her solo debut in 2003 with Dangerously In Love, starting with that album’s first and second singles.

“Baby Boy”

The second single from Dangerously In Love saw Beyonce collaborating with dancehall artist Sean Paul and taking inspiration from South Asian musical styles. The single also appeared on Seal Paul’s 2002 sophomore album Dutty Rock. It stayed on the charts for nine weeks in total and was Beyonce’s longest-running number-one single until 2007. It was replaced, ironically enough, by “Irreplaceable.”

“Break My Soul”

It might surprise some to learn, what with Beyonce’s pop culture dominance over the past 20 years, that “Break My Soul” is actually Beyonce’s first solo No. 1 single since Billboard made the changes including streams in its charts. The highest-charting Self-Titled song, “Drunk In Love” reached No. 2, while Lemonade’s Formation peaked at No. 10.

“Check On It”

Originally recorded for The Pink Panther, this 2005 collaboration with fellow Houstonian Slim Thug wound up being placed on the 2005 Destiny’s Child’s greatest hits album #1‘s instead (as well as B’Day). Produced by Swizz Beatz, it rose to prominence due to its radio popularity — likely thanks in part to Thug’s presence, as he rode the wave of goodwill from his feature on Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’.”

“Crazy In Love”

Widely viewed as Beyonce’s “official” debut single (justice for “Work It Out”), the lead single from Dangerously In Love was produced by Rich Harrison and featured Bey’s future husband Jay-Z. It also kicked off a wave of go-go and funk-influenced hits throughout the 2000s pioneered largely by Harrison himself as other stars clamored to repeat Beyonce’s success.

“Irreplaceable”

Penned by Ne-Yo and presaging Beyonce’s interest in country (though it was reworked as a pop-R&B ballad), “Irreplaceable” was the knockout third single from Beyonce’s second album, B’Day. After moderate success for “Déjà Vu” and “Ring the Alarm,” it skyrocketed Bey back to the top of the chart, becoming the twenty-fifth most successful song of the 2000s.

“Perfect”

“Perfect” is one of Beyonce’s two featured appearances at No. 1 on the Hot 100, as she appears on a duet version of Ed Sheeran’s 2017 hit. The third single from ÷ (at least in the United States), the duet version accounted for 18 percent of the song’s sales, pushing it to the top of the chart, becoming Sheeran’s second and Beyonce’s sixth No. 1.

“Savage”

In 2020, Beyonce scored her seventh No. 1 after joining forces with a surging Megan Thee Stallion for another Houston jam session that saw Beyonce show off her rapping chops. In addition to benefitting Houston’s COVID-19 relief efforts, the song brought a new spotlight to OnlyFans after being locked in a duel for No. 1 with another girl power anthem, Doja Cat’s “Say So” remix with Nicki Minaj.

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

Perhaps one of Bey’s most inescapable anthems, the second single from Beyonce’s 2008 third studio album I Am… Sasha Fierce reigned supreme throughout the year after its release, becoming a meme, winning three Grammy Awards, and spawning imitations, homages, and outright spoofs that made it nearly ubiquitous. It was also the impetus for Kanye’s infamous stage-crashing scene at the 2009 VMAs, arguably indirectly launching the decade’s worth of Taylor Swift-influenced pop music to come.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kelly Clarkson is bringing her inaugural American Idol win full circle: Today, Clarkson announced that she will be taking “Kellyoke,” a segment from her talk show in which she performs covers of her favorite songs, on the road for a mini tour. During her quest, Clarkson will search for the best undiscovered singers.

“This summer we’re taking The Kelly Clarkson Show on the road to find some of the greatest voices across America,” Clarkson said in a video. “Come sing a virtual duet with me to one of my songs.”

While Clarkson herself won’t appear at all of the stops on her Kellyoke tour, fans can show off their vocal stylings and record alongside Clarkson’s prerecorded vocals. Clarkson will select some of the best submissions to play on her show.

This past June, Clarkson released a Kellyoke EP, featuring covers of songs like “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish and “Call Out My Name” by The Weeknd.

Check out the Kellyoke tour announcement video above and the tour dates below.

08/21 — New York City, NY @ Rockefeller Plaza (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
08/23 — New York City, NY @ Rockefeller Plaza (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
08/27 — Chicago, IL @ Navy Pier (noon to 7 p.m.)
09/03 — Dallas, TX @ Klyde Warren Park (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
09/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ Universal Studios City Walk (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Kelly Clarkson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Perhaps more than any other singer of the past three decades or so, Mariah Carey is firmly associated with Christmas. In an unsurprising move, she’s in the process of trying to trademark the term “Queen Of Christmas,” but she’s facing opposition from a couple of other singers who are also strongly tied to the December holiday.

Variety reports that through her attorney, Elizabeth Chan, who exclusively sings Christmas music, filed a formal declaration of opposition to Carey’s trademark claim. Chan told the publication:

“Christmas has come way before any of us on Earth, and hopefully will be around way after any of us on Earth, and I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto anything around Christmas or monopolize it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity. That’s just not the right thing to do. Christmas is for everyone. It’s meant to be shared; it’s not meant to be owned.

And it’s not just about the music business. She’s trying to trademark this in every imaginable way — clothing, liquor products, masks, dog collars — it’s all over the map. If you knit a ‘queen of Christmas’ sweater, you should be able to sell it on Etsy to somebody else so they can buy it for their grandma. It’s crazy — it would have that breadth of registration.”

Chan also noted she has been called the “Queen Of Christmas” many times in the media, with the first instance of it coming in 2014 and most notably in a 2018 New Yorker profile titled simply, “The Queen Of Christmas.”

Per Billboard, Chan’s lawyer Louis Tompros wrote, “Christmas is big enough for more than one ‘Queen.’ But this opposition proceeding is sadly necessary because Ms. Carey’s Lotion LLC company is nevertheless trying to claim sole ownership of the title and designation ‘Queen of Christmas.’”

The publication also notes, “If Chan wins her case, it doesn’t mean Carey must stop using the name herself — only that she cannot stop others from using it, too.”

Also speaking out against the trademark is Darlene Love, who sang on the 1963 album A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector and sang “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on Late Night With David Letterman every year from 1986 to 2014. In a Facebook post yesterday, she wrote, “Is it true that Mariah Carey trade marked “Queen of Christmas”? [crying laughing emoji] What does that mean that I can’t use that title? [thinking emoji] David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released ‘All I want For Christmas Is You’ and at 81 years of age I’m NOT changing anything. I’ve been in the business for 52 years, have earned it and can still hit those notes! If Mariah has a problem call David or my lawyer!!

It’s hard keeping up with all of Donald Trump’s excuses in the wake of the FBI’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago compound. The alleged toilet flusher took classified documents, possibly containing nuclear secrets, because of “political persecution,” or maybe they were planted by the feds, or actually the documents were declassified and as president, he can do whatever he wants (this is, needless to say, very much not the case).

On Monday’s The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah spent a solid 10 minutes on Trump and his cronies treating world-altering documents like the printer ink you “borrowed” from work. “The most fun in all of this is how Trump and the red caps are working so hard to invent new excuses for why this crime wasn’t a crime,” he said. Noah then went through a few of the excuses, including the “the greatest excuse of all-time.”

In response to an NBC News report that “West Wing aides and government movers frantically tossed documents and other items into banker boxes that were shipped to a storage room at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida” because Trump was in denial about losing the presidency, all Noah could do at first was laugh. And probably cry. But mostly laugh.

After composing himself, Noah said, “Trump’s people are saying because he didn’t think he was leaving the White House, he packed in a hurry when he left. Yeah, he was so busy planning the coup he didn’t even think about packing. Is that what happened? It’s like, ‘Guys, I wasn’t trying to steal these documents. I was trying to steal the election. Why would I pack when I thought I’d have another 10 or 20 years in the White House?’”

You can watch The Daily Show clip above.

Tom Holland’s one of the most sought after actors of his generation, as seen in the above photo from the set of The Crowded Room (an AppleTV+ limited series), where he’s showing off an abundance of hair. Tom enjoys moments of levity like stirring up the Fake Spidey Butt controversy, but even he needs to depressurize sometimes. And that need extends to taking a break from social media, which is something that’s not uncommon for young public figures who realize that all of the scrutiny is simply too much. As Tom recently revealed on Instagram, he’s stepping back due to feeling overwhelmed by the constant onslaught of takes, and he’s especially keen to avoid takes about himself.

“I’ve taken a break from social media for my mental health because I find Instagram and Twitter to be overstimulating, to be overwhelming,” the Spider-Man: No Way Home star declared. “I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online and ultimately, it’s very detrimental to my mental state.” Holland stressed that wanted to let everyone know about a near-and-dear-to-his-heart charity, stem4. Holland wants to vanquish the “awful stigma against mental health” matters, and he wants his fans to know, “Seeking help isn’t something that we should be ashamed of, but it is something that is much easier said than done.”

Good on ya, Tom, and I sure hope he enjoys peace from leaving social media behind him.

(Via Deadline)

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got new music from Death Cab For Cutie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Broken Bells, Alvvays, and more.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Death Cab For Cutie — “Foxglove Through The Clearcut”

Prolific West Coast indie rockers Death Cab For Cutie continue rolling out their upcoming album, Asphalt Meadows. Their latest track “Foxglove Through The Clearcut” leans experimental for Death Cab, opening with lead singer Ben Gibbard delivering a spoken word poem about movement and the unknown over a cascading array of instruments.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Burning”

Death Cab weren’t the only early aughts group to drop new music this week. Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned with “Burning,” the second single off their upcoming album Cool It Down. The song is slow, cinematic, and relatively sparse save for a fuzzy electric guitar and urgent violins. According to singer Karen 0, the song was inspired by a house fire she experienced as a teenager which thankfully left most of her sentimental belongings intact. “If the world is on fire I hope the most beloved stay protected and that we do all we can to protect what we cherish most in this life,” she said.

Alvvays — “Easy On Your Own?”

Canadian rockers Alvvays are readying their upcoming LP, Blue Rev, sharing the rolling new track “Easy On Your Own?” to celebrate. The soaring, breezy tune points to what seems like a strong project from the band. It reflects on lead singer Molly Rankin’s life choices, opening with a line about dropping out of college as she continues to wonder if life will be more carefree in the future.

Broken Bells — “Saturdays”

It’s been a while since the last Broken Bells album, the acclaimed project between The Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse’s Brian Burton, but that changed this week when the duo unveiled the catchy number “Saturdays.” Pulling inspiration from ’60s psychedelia, “Saturdays” features washed out guitars, swirling synths, and groovy riffs to tease the group’s recently announced Into The Blue.

The Big Pink – “Rage”

Exactly 10 years since the The Big Pink last released an album, the band are finally gearing up for their next project. Mixing nostalgia and hypnotic chords, The Big Pink share “Rage,” a song about struggling with love, life, and the state of the world. “It’s really a ‘f*ck you!’ track,” lead singer Robbie Furze said about the track.

The Dare — “Girls”

After making music under the moniker Turtlenecked, Brooklyn-based musician Harrison Patrick Smith presents his new project The Dare with the hooky single “Girls.” The electrifying track channels catchy ’90s brit pop and is an ode to all kinds of cool girls everywhere; the girls who smoke cigs in the club, the girls who hate cops, and all other girls in general.

Quinn Christopherson — “Celine”

In the midst of opening for Julien Baker, Sharon Van Etten, and Angel Olsen on their joint tour, Quinn Christopherson shares the vibrant new track “Celine.” A heartwarming and positive anthem, “Celine” was inspired by a compliment his mother received during her karaoke set.

Disq — “If Only”

Wisconsin-based art rockers Disq recently kicked off their Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet album rollout with the playful lead single “Cujo Kiddies.” Now, they’re back and taking things in a more wistful direction with “If Only,” a song inspired by moody late ’90s indie rock and is a cinematic number meant to pull on your heartstrings.

Blackstarkids — “Sex Appeal”

After getting a taste of stardom with their 2020 breakout album and 2021 follow up, prolific trio Blackstarkids are at it again with “Sex Appeal.” The fun-loving song expertly combines notes of nostalgia and futurism, paying homage to throwback stars like Neptunes, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott while infusing modern confidence over a blend of synth-pop and trip-hop.

NNAMDÏ — “Anti”

NNAMDÏ invites us to Please Have A Seat, relax, and enjoy his new song “Anti,” which expertly toes the line playful and unnerving. The song features a funk-infused rhythm and atmospheric beats juxtaposed by calming, cascading piano keys. Throughout the song, NNAMDÏ finds himself confronting his past and speaking to the anxiety that manifests in monotony.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.