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Mike Lindell has announced his next big business venture. After focusing on sleep with his MyPillow products that recently suffered a critical blow after being dumped by Walmart, Lindell has jumped to the other side of the spectrum and will now help people wake up with, you guessed it, MyCoffee.

Lindell announced his new business venture during a recent appearance on the Right Side Broadcasting Network, and judging by his borderline incoherent, Trump-like ranting, it sure seemed like Lindell was hopped up on his own product. After touting MyCoffee and claiming “there’s nothing like it,” even the RSBN reporter couldn’t help but notice all of this sounds similar to Columbian coffee, which there is definitely something like.

Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter:

“I’m actually gonna go to Miami for three days for filming. We have MyCoffee. This is a family-owned coffee. It’s the best coffee you are ever gonna have in your life. There’s nothing like it. Believe me. Everything that I put out there I do my due diligence. [unintelligible] for six months. These guys have their own fields in Columbia. Family-owned, they’ve been doing it for years. [unintelligible rambling about grinding your own beans] But having that, getting it for prices, because that’s what I do. Bring the best to you.”

As Lindell recently revealed, his MyPillow empire took a significant hit after Walmart pulled the products from its stores and website. Lindell calculated the loss at $100 million as he openly ranted about Walmart executives ignoring his calls. Clearly, using his Frank TV network to blast the retail giant didn’t help the situation as Lindell has pivoted to selling the best coffee you’re ever going to have in your life. The guy who’s being sued for claiming the 2020 election was stolen would never steer you wrong.

(Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter)

We’re not even halfway through 2022, but it’s not too soon to look forward to 2023. I mean, what’s left to be excited about for the rest of this year, outside of the final episodes of Better Call Saul, the remaining episodes of Stranger Things season four, the returns of Tuca and Bertie, What We Do in the Shadows, and Harley Quinn, and on the big screen, the NC-17 Marilyn Monroe biopic with Ana de Armas, George Miller’s follow-up to Mad Max: Fury Road, Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, and Avatar: The Way of the Water. OK, maybe there’s a few things to look forward to between now and December, but me, I’m already counting down the days until July 21, 2023.

Folks, it’s time to talk about Barbie.

Have I seen Barbie? No, of course not. There’s not even a teaser. But I’ve seen the paparazzi photos of Margot Robbie on the set in blindingly pink outfits, and I’m ready to declare it the most important movie of 2023. (I’m tempted to say “best,” but Cocaine Bear comes out in 2023, too, and I’m not ready to make that judgement yet. Also out next year: John Wick Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Indiana Jones 5, and Dune: Part Two. Can we at least agree that Barbie will be the best non-sequel and/or movie about a cocaine bear?)

Why, you may be wondering, am I so excited for a movie about a six-decades-old toy that I never owned as a child because I was too busy playing with my Stretch Armstrong? (Fun fact: I couldn’t remember the name “Stretch Armstrong,” so I did a Google search for “muscle stretch toy,” and found what I was looking for. This might be because my safe search was turned on.) Let me explain. It’s because…

-I trust Robbie, who could credibly be called the best actress of her generation

-I trust writer and director Greta Gerwig, the director and Oscar-nominated writer of Lady Bird and Little Women (and her co-writer, Marriage Story‘s Noam Baumbach)

-I trust the rest of the stacked cast, including Ryan Gosling as Ken (!), Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, and Emma Mackey

-I trust Robbie and Gosling on rollerblades, who look like if Samara from The Ring crawled out of a Lisa Frank folder instead of a television

-And most of all, I tru— LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS

I could (and arguably should) have ended this post after the photo of bright-pink Robbie and Gosling as Barbie and Ken — case closed, you already have “Barbie movie” in your Google calendar for July 21, 2023 (unless a member of Aqua), etc. But there’s something else I’d like to discuss. Some have made the argument that “we are getting exposed to way too much of this movie way too soon before it’s out,” which I understand. There’s always the risk of burnout, or that sky-high expectations won’t be met.

Counterpoint: Twitter is miserable, and I haven’t been this excited for celebrity paparazzi photos since Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck’s daily walks during the pandemic. Let the people (me) have their fun and enjoy bubble headed beach blonde Ryan Gosling. Maybe Barbie won’t be great; it could be quickly forgotten IP drivel like Jem & the Holograms instead of a subversive classic like The Brady Bunch Movie (a standout in the “main guys are weird and everyone thinks they are weird” genre).

I doubt it, though. Besides, at least we’ll always have this:

Vladimir Putin reportedly can’t even trust his inner circle anymore, lest he get a “hammer to the head,” and his approval rating is in the can. In fact, that rating’s lower than it’s been (globally) in 20 years, all after he decided to invade Ukraine, which has made molotov-cocktails waving grandmas real with President Zelensky (who refuses to leave his people) emerging as a folk hero. There’s plenty of talk about a secret successor in process, given that Putin (and in turn, Russia) is now a global pariah who’s plagued by sanctions, and we already heard that Putin’s circling the wagons with his few allies, which still include China and India.

Who else can Putin rustle up? He’s apparently reaching into the bottom of the barrel here, as the Associated Press reports. The Russian president’s new friends are… the Taliban. Wildly enough, he’s now embracing the group under the guise of helping a very divided Afghanistan come together. This is happening even though Russia has previously agreed with most of the rest of the world in declaring the Taliban to be “a terrorist group.” From the AP:

President Vladimir Putin says Russia is trying to build relations with the Taliban and that Russia wants to see all the ethnic groups in Afghanistan take part in running the country.

Putin’s statement Tuesday came in a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan during the Russian leader’s first trip abroad since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict. Tajikistan, which hosts a Russian military base, has a long and porous border with Afghanistan and is wary that Islamic radicalism could seep into the country.

That’s wild as heck, even as Putin’s putting on concerned diplomatic airs while determining to make new friends. Sidling up to the Taliban certainly isn’t a good look, but neither is bombing shopping centers like it’s no big deal, all to serve an imperialistic desire. It’s really no wonder that U.S. intelligence officials cite sources that say Putin’s “rule is no longer absolute” in his country or anywhere else.

(Via Associated Press)

Jason Momoa finally headlined his own TV show with Apple TV+’s See, which began as a wild and wooly journey into a weird world where no one can see Jason Momoa. That seemed like a bit of a waste (because let’s get real, everyone likes to look at Momoa), but the audience rolled with it for a second season of Baba Voss, which honestly felt difficult to watch during the protracted torture moments from Dave Bautista‘s Edo Voss upon Baba. The third season shall be the final season, and Baba’s bearing those physical scars, but that conflict appears to be over with another one only beginning.

The good news here? That post-apocalyptic situation, with humanity losing the sense of sight, might be headed toward an end because a new generation of babies can see. The bad news? This launches conflicting tribes into an even more intense battle and a race to gain superiority over everyone else. Yet if you want some more good news, the Masturbating Queen (Sylvia Hoeks) is also back, and Baba Voss has been living in the woods, but he’s back, too. Francis Lawrence launched the series as director, and Momoa loved the battle scenes full of echolocation, but everything’s gearing up for final conflicts, so here’s a synopsis:

See is set in a brutal and primitive future, hundreds of years after humankind has lost the ability to see. In season three, almost a year has passed since Baba Voss (Momoa) defeated his nemesis brother Edo and bid farewell to his family to live remotely in the forest. But when a Trivantian scientist develops a new and devastating form of sighted weaponry that threatens the future of humanity, Baba returns to Paya in order to protect his tribe once more.

See will return (on a weekly basis) on August 26.

88rising’s Head in the Clouds Forever showcase at Coachella remains one of the biggest nights for Asian representation this year. For two consecutive weekends in mid-April, 88rising took over Coachella with a lineup spanning across past, present, and future that had unexpected surprises from 2NE1 reuniting to debut performances that made history. Jackson Wang, a Hong Kong born multi-hyphenate based in South Korea, enthralled fans with his 10-minute performance that previewed his upcoming album Magic Man with “Blow” and an unreleased song, featured tight choreography, and brought honor to the Chinese entertainment industry by shining on an international stage.

To fans outside of America, Wang is known for being a member of the South Korean boy band Got7, his charming appearances on Chinese variety shows, and a fashion entrepreneur through Team Wang design. But Wang has been quickly making his mark in the States as an artist with massive crossover appeal through his English language pop songs (“100 Ways,” “LMLY”) and hip-hop features (“Different Game,” “Bad Back”), focused on introducing a new persona known as the Magic Man. The concept of Magic Man came from a particular low point in his life, where the now 28-year-old artist sees that as part of his journey of finding the new him.

K-pop idols tend to be bulletproof brands who are easily commercialized and marketable with a clean aesthetic. Wang is taking a risk with Magic Man by using his solo music to portray a more raw and honest version of himself, one that feels true to his current moment. He hints Magic Man will have a mix of grunge, rock, and pop, which are rougher edges to the songs his fans are accustomed to. More importantly, it sounds like the music he wants to make, hoping Team Wang supporters have faith in his capabilities to brighten his star power and to enjoy the effort he’s putting into the Magic Man experience every time he performs.

Calling from South Korea, Wang spoke to Uproxx about his Coachella performance and what that meant to him, why Magic Man is an essential listen for the summer, and how more people should understand themselves first before chasing their dreams. This is Jackson Wang pulling the curtain, and it is as real as it gets.

Your Coachella performance this year was an important moment for you. You specifically told the crowd, “This is a moment in history. This is Magic Man. This is Jackson Wang from China.” So as the first Chinese solo artist to make their debut at Coachella, what did that performance personally mean to you?

That meant everything, you know, like me coming from my hometown. And I just want to rep my people out there. Coachella is big for my career and as an artist, you know, that’s just crazy. And honestly, before that performance, I literally thought in my mind that after this performance, I can die. Like, you know what? I’m going to kill it like it is my last performance.

I wanted to give everything that I had, for my hometown, for Chinese [people] at the same time, and for Asians. I just wanted to kill it to the limit that I could. When I look back and after 50 years, 40 years, I don’t even know if I’m going to live that long. But when I look back and tell my grandkids, like, “Yo, your grandpa did everything. He did everything he could.”

Coachella is always a big moment for artists, and I’m glad that 88rising was able to do that type of showcase. And during that set, you performed a song that fans caught on that was new and it hasn’t been released yet. What can you tell me about that song?

My new album is Magic Man and honestly, it’s probably going to be [out] in September. I just think that because I’ll be having a lot more performances throughout the year, in every performance, I’m just going to perform maybe most of the songs on the album. Because as an artist right now, I’m still building. I’m not a well-known artist that everybody knows around the world. I’m at a stage where I need to build. I’m just taking every opportunity I could to perform my music around the world. To deliver it, to showcase it to everybody that watches the show.

You’re looking to drop a new single in July. What are some ideas you’ve been thinking about as you begin to roll this single out?

Oh my God. This music video, this visual, and everything. Usually, when I film a music video, I have my really core team set up the production and stuff. Maybe I’ll just hop in for like three days before the shoot and I’ll prep everything cause everything is communicated beforehand. But this time, everything is from scratch. I gotta be there to create the treatment, I have to direct it, I have to set up every single bit of detail. You know how production works. All this artwork, set, lighting, choreo, movement, camera angles, like all this specific sh*t that I have to go through. But that’s okay. Two-three weeks before the shoot, I’m there to create everything from scratch. It was crazy but me and my team that came with me, we crushed everything in two weeks from scratch. From nothing. It was a hard moment, but in some ways, I think it turned out dope. I think it turned out not bad and I’m really satisfied with what we came up with.We are in the process of post-production right now. Cutting the scenes and adjusting the frame. Coloring. Visual effects and all that stuff right now.

In each of these songs, are you going to try and make them into mini universes or a multiverse type of thing? Is that still true that you want to do that?

Yeah, that’s still true. You know like in an album, everything is in one universe. But at the same time, every song is from different regions in this universe. I wanted to showcase that. That’s why I’ve been shooting a lot of visualizers so you can connect each song. But there are some songs that without visuals, just by the song that you hear, it feels in the same universe but different territories already. That’s why I wanted to emphasize videos to come along with it.

This album, Magic Man, it’s more about the tone of it and the attitude of it. Like me really breaking through my negative moments. I understand that a lot of people think, “Oh, he came from this life. He did this and he did that. He did a lot of variety shows.” I understand that, I really respect that, and I love it. But at the same time, there’s sides like the super raw me, the 100 percent honest that people don’t see. The attitude and the approach, I don’t think people see that. I really want to make that approach [clear], I really don’t give a sh*t.

When you like me and support my music as an artist through my image, people like me for different reasons. And they support me for different reasons and I understand that. I think that’s something that I really appreciate and something that motivates me in every moment. At the same time, I just want to be true to the people that supported me. I’m not a perfect person. I have that vision to grow. I will do whatever it takes. No matter what it is, I want to be better and better. Because a lot of times, I feel sorry for my fans. They supported me since day one even though my music and all the stuff I was putting out in the past was wack. I feel that and I know that every time because I’m strict to myself and my team. I know it was wack but it’s okay. What’s more important is that I’m growing, I’m evolving, and I have that attitude that I’m never satisfied with myself because I feel like I should be better in everything that I do.

Whether it’s music or a talk show, whether it’s a movie or whatever, I just need to be better. That’s the only reason that pisses me off. Why can’t I be better? That’s all I care about every day when I wake up. Before I go to sleep. That’s all I care about. How do I work harder to be a better artist that can convince myself to think, “Oh, this is it.” But I am doing it to my limit currently, but you never know. Every time I try to exceed it, some other gates, some other windows open. I just go through that.

You gotta shatter the glass ceiling and break through. This journey of finding the new you, it sounds incredible.

It’s not. I’m just in the process. I don’t know. In two-three years, four-five years, I’ll make it. And people be like, “Damn, he’s good.” What they have not seen is how I came up. But all my supporters know how he came from wack to okay to not bad to like “Damn, he can do this, he can do that.” I think it’s about the journey.

That’s what I mean. Incredible as in it is inspiring. You have this drive that not a lot of artists have. I get the sense you are a lot happier with your music right now.

Honestly, I’m never happy. It’s not there yet. I just know this is the limit that I can go right now. How can I sharpen my weapons to go to the next level? That’s some sh*t that I need to take on my own. My team is great. They’re very professional, they know what they want, and they are very organized. I love them. At the same time, I just think that product-wise, me as an artist, I just have to take it and I have to be better. That’s it. They can’t perform for me. I need to do it. I need to kill it. Not even that I’m sorry to my fans and my supporters, sometimes, I’m even sorry to my team. Like f*ck, if I can be a better artist. If I can be better, then I can make them proud. I’m not good enough, that’s why I’m trying to be better every single day, even on the little stuff that I’m caring about every day.

Is there someone you look up to? Are you trying to be among certain idols or is it just all on your own?

To me, my ultimate goal in life is to leave something behind before I die. Because life, you never know what happens. You can die tomorrow, right? But I just want to live to the fullest every day. I can produce some stuff. I can do some stuff that makes my supporters or even my team, my family proud. Whatever it is culturally or even just as an artist, I want to leave something behind. Growing up, I’ve always been really into respecting people like Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin. They did something for the culture and the world like “Damn, they can do that?” That’s been my dream and that’s all I’m going for because you only live once.

Can you tell me what led to Magic Man? Your last album was Mirrors in 2019. What inspired the title?

Because I was in my lows a year and a half ago. For the entire year back home by myself, I was in negative moments. I’ve been in this industry for eight, nine years and everything felt like a loop. Schedules after schedules. I have to do this, do that. But I was thinking, “You know what? I can’t have everything in the world but what is something that I really want? What is my goal in my life? Like I said, what is something that I want to leave behind? Is there something I should approach instead of doing something else that has nothing related to that?” So, I’m like, “You know what? Screw it. Let’s do it.” I know it’s a risk. I know I might not be making a living off it, but it’s okay. I’m just going to do it. If I do it and if I fail, I fail on my own hands. If not, if I don’t do it right, it’s something that I am going to regret for life. So I’m like, “You know what? Screw this sh*t.” I just want to do something that I believe in. Let’s see if it goes well. And if it goes well, I’ll admit it. I’ll do everything that supports the next generation. I’ll believe it, but let me do it first before I’m too old for it.

A lot of people say, “Yeah, you can still dance when you’re 30, 40, 50.” But it’s a different vibe. If I’m at my prime in my stamina and my youth with two-three years left, I’m just going to do everything to that extent. Let me try first. And I really, really want to try and do anything that I can do.

So I was in my lows back home for a year and I got drunk every day by myself. Just thinking: “What am I doing right now?” I see no future. I’m stuck. I’m not inspired. What is it that I’m doing every day? I’m not a person, I’m a workaholic. I’m not a person that wants to communicate with people when I go through stuff. The only thing that I want is to solve the problem. If I’m stressed, there must be a problem so I must solve it. That’s all in my head for many, many years.

But there’s one time where I was in a session and I was cutting a song for the Magic Man album. At that time, I didn’t even have the title for the album, I was just creating songs for the tone and color I was going for. Like grunge, rock, pop melodies and stuff. I was going for that. I wasn’t delivering. I was having a hard time. I was literally crying in the session but then my producer was like, “What’s wrong with you?” He actually shut down the session. He’s like, “Screw this session. It’s not about work anymore. Let’s talk it out.” I was like, “Yo, we are not being efficient. We need to cut this song right now. I’m wasting my time. I need that time right now.” And then he’s like, “Yo, we gotta talk.” For the first time in my life, I actually feel like words mean something. Words are so powerful.

Later that week, I started to talk with my stylist in America, the director in America. They told me the same stuff. We were drinking. They were saying some sh*t that really hit my heart. Like damn, it is real. I never thought that conversation would have such a powerful effect on me.

It hit you differently.

Yeah, it hit me different. I’m like, “Damn it is real.” And from that point on, I just want to do whatever I want, be honest to my fans. Be honest to my supporters, my family, my crew. This is what I want to do. If you believe in me, I believe in it. Let’s just go. If we fail, we fail together. If we succeed, we succeed together. We’re going to conquer. That’s all in my head right now.

You’ve been talking about in your interviews how you want to be a bridge. I think it’s interesting that you want to be a bridge between the East and the West. A bunch of artists have done something similar where they use their platform to connect the East to West, but this is something you truly believe in, and it extends beyond the music industry. Why do you want to be a bridge?

It’s important to connect. When I say bridge, it’s not the only bridge. I’m talking about one of the bridges. More opportunities and more windows to connect. And for me, it’s important to me because I think the East and the West have their own community. What happens in the East stays in the East. What happens in the West, the majority stays in the West. But lifestyle is so interesting that people don’t know. People don’t know or they are not interested. The problem is they are not interested. I think the first step is because they are not interested. What can make them interested? If we have good content, then people would be like, “Oh, what’s happening over there?” This is the real stuff that I want to deliver. How we grew up. How we eat. How we got our education. How we live, what’s the lifestyle like? How is it right now? People don’t know. People can judge it through the media. They don’t know, know. I feel like I want to connect to that.

I want to end on the Team Wang design philosophy of “Know Yourself, Make Your Own History.” I think it relates to more than just fashion, but also for your current career trajectory. You’ve had to overcome obstacles to release your solo music, whether on your own label or through 88rising. With everything you’ve said, do you have a better understanding of yourself now?

I’ve been knowing about myself. Everyone realizes when it’s the outcome, when it’s the result. But what I’m looking for is who is here in the process of building together. That’s the memorable part. Everybody is gonna see you make it, but when you don’t people don’t care. I think 88Rising, Team Wang Records, Team Wang design, everyone in our community right now, even the audience. They believe in that vision.

And everybody is in different industries. Some can be a doctor, some can be working at companies, some could be this, some could be that. All I want my audience to do is think about themselves. What is your dream? Do you know yourself enough or do you like thinking too much about people looking at you that’s why you lose your focus on what you really want in life? You know, you could be paid a lot of salary every month to do something that you don’t really enjoy. But what is something that has always been in your dream that you really want? When you are working and you are doing something that you really love and you have so much inspiration and motivation for it and you’re so dedicated to it, you wouldn’t even think it is a job. It’s that vision that I really want to tell people. Know yourself first.

It felt like you were just talking directly to me. I needed that. I’ve had my own dreams and aspirations but I’m always sitting on my hands.

Nobody knows you. Nobody knows what you want and that exact picture more than yourself. If you don’t know yourself, you can never make it happen. Everyone is different. Everyone has a different personality, different vision, and a different standard of happiness. How can you expect people to know exactly what you want when they have a family too? They have friends too. They have their own lives too. You just gotta make that and explain it very in detail. And just get it. Just get it and it’s done. The product is out the way you want it, then it’s done. If you have that, everyone around you can do what they do. They can do it to support it. They can’t help you draw. If you’re an artist or painter, they can’t help you to draw. You gotta do it. You gotta brief them well. And tell them so they are excited too. And then it is going to work. It’s not going to work when it is like, “Hey, do everything for me. Get a director. Help me to direct this.” This sh*t is never going to work. You might get lucky. There’s luck, too. You might make it, but I’m telling you, all these artists that are successful right now, I look up to them, too. I feel like they have something different in them. It’s not the team, it’s them.

Jackson Wang is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

James Corden is in the middle of a week of shows filmed in London and the first two episodes have been filled with music. Monday’s show had Lizzo doing “Carpool Karaoke” and Billie Eilish as an interview guest, and on last night’s episodes, Ed Sheeran was on the couch alongside Vin Diesel.

During the chat, Corden asked Sheeran what songs he thinks he’ll “have to” perform on every tour for the rest of his life. He responded:

“I put it in my head, I was like, ‘I’m a massive Coldplay fan, and if I go to a Coldplay show and they don’t play ‘Fix You’ or ‘Yellow,’ I’m going to be like [shrugs].’ So in my head, I’m like, ‘People are going to think that coming to my shows,’ so I would always have ‘Perfect,’ I’d always have ‘Bad Habits,’ ‘Shape Of You,’ then you got ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ ‘The A Team.’”

He continued, “Whenever you put out a new album, you’re like, ‘If I’m not ending the show with the new single from this album and it’s from the last album, I’m like, ‘Ah, is it… has it done well?’ So I was like, I’m really happy to… ‘Bad Habits’ is the best of the whole show, so I’m really, really, really, really pleased with that. But I thought I would just end the show with ‘Shape Of You’ for the rest of my life.”

Check out clips from Sheeran on last night’s Corden above and below.

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

Steve Lacy just dropped his second single this month in “Bad Habit,” and the surge of new music from the producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist isn’t a coincidence. Along with “Bad Habit,” Lacy has also shared the official details for the release date of his new album, Gemini Rights, and it’s coming out a lot sooner than you think.

Out in two weeks on July 15th, Gemini Rights, is written and produced by Lacy, who also played most of the instruments on each of the ten tracks — including one with Fousheé, whom he made out with in a music video earlier this year. Whereas on lead single “Mercury,” Lacy explored saucy bossa nova rhythms and emphatic vocals over a complex arrangement, “Bad Habit” is a sweet, groovy love song where Lacy ranges his voice a la Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes. “I wish I knew, I wish I knew you wanted me,” he sings on the soul-bearing hook.

The album is written in the aftermath of Lacy’s first big heartbreak, which at 24 years old, is a pretty decent streak. The Grammy nominee has cited influences on Gemini Rights from Brazilian maestro Caetano Veloso and Outkast’s Andre 3000 to Sly Stone, The Beatles, and of course, his talented pack in the The Internet.

Listen to “Bad Habit” above.

Gemini Rights is out 7/15 via RCA Records. Pre-order it 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. Bartees Strange, Farm To Table

To say that this genre-mixing singer-songwriter took an unconventional path to indie stardom would be an understatement. After spending his 20s working in politics — the D.C. native once held an administrative job in the Obama administration — he put out his debut album, Live Forever, in 2020 in his early 30s. His relatively advanced age wasn’t the only obstacle — there was also the matter of launching a music career in the midst of a worldwide epidemic. And yet Strange has persevered, in part because the music media has fallen hard for his lovable underdog story. Fortunately, Farm To Table justifies the coverage. As was the case with Live Forever, Strange is a natural at mixing emo-pop dynamics with R&B vocal affectations and hip-hop-style production. On his second full-length, he doesn’t so much reinvent this formula as refine it to the point of silky perfection. This album is one of the best sounding records of 2022; you feel the velvety guitars, gooey synths, and supple beats as much as hear them.

2. Angel Olsen, Big Time

I’ve long admired Angel Olsen’s music without ever completely falling for it … until this record. Working with co-producer Jonathan Wilson, Olsen has wedded some of her heaviest songs — the album was inspired by the recent deaths of both of her parents — with the most ravishing music of her career. Retaining the rustic and retro Laurel Canyon vibe of Wilson’s work with Father John Misty and adding a generous dose of twang, Big Time is a beautiful psychedelic country record with a grief-stricken heart. It somehow floats and sinks simultaneously.

3. S.G. Goodman, Teeth Marks

This Kentucky-based singer-songwriter makes music that’s ideal for a melancholy summer, when deep emotions linger as humid days fade into starry nights. Her latest, Teeth Marks, sparkles and rages, balancing stirring ballads with fiery, working-class rockers. The title track belongs in the former category, and is one of the year’s best songs. And then there’s “Work Until I Die,” a garage-rock rager with a John Fogerty vibe that stands as the rarest of modern indie phenomena — a genuine protest song about small-town, lower middle class professional drudgery. If you’re looking for a good chaser for the Angel Olsen record, look no further.

4. Tim Heidecker, High School

Tim Heidecker is an interesting bunch of guys. There is Tim Heidecker, the inventive co-star of the pioneering Adult Swim program Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Good Job! There is Tim Heidecker, the egomaniacal co-host of the popular web series On Cinema. There is Tim Heidecker, the L.A.-based husband and father who oversees the amiable podcast Office Hours. And then there’s Tim Heidecker, character actor and surprisingly (even shockingly) earnest singer-songwriter. On his latest album High School, Heidecker the singer-songwriter has made his most straightforward and autobiographical album yet. A song cycle that looks back on his early ’90s adolescence with the sort of wistful sensitivity and wry specificity associated with ’70s soft rock titans like Paul Simon and Randy Newman — both of whom Heidecker has cited as personal favorites — High School evokes a pre-internet, Middle American, suburban world buoyed by references to Kurt Vonnegut, fiscal conservatism, Gulf War-era CNN reporter Peter Arnett, and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”

5. Goose, Dripfield

Back in March, I called this Connecticut quintet “the next great American jam band.” June might have been their biggest month yet, as it was capped with a successful two-show run at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan that featured guest spots by Father John Misty and jam scene kingpin Trey Anastasio of Phish, an apparent “passing of the torch” moment. And then there was the release of their latest and best album. I normally don’t listen to jam bands for their studio work — even the Grateful Dead struggled to capture their live magic on wax. But Dripfield is a consistently engaging pop-psychedelic record, like a trippier Father Of The Bride. While it is technically Goose’s third studio LP, it feels like a proper debut, far outstripping its predecessors in terms of quality and ambition. Some tracks slip into funky instrumental tangents, but the focus is on concise and punchy songwriting deriving mainly from frontman Rick Mitarotonda, with guitar-keyboardist Peter Anspach pitching in a George Harrison-sized allotment of tunes.

6. Drive-By Truckers, Welcome 2 Club XIII

These venerable Southern-rock legends are one of the most reliable bands (and brands) in all of rock ‘n’ roll. Every single release, you are guaranteed to hear brilliant story-songs set to crunchy guitar riffs. It’s no surprise that the new Welcome 2 Club XIII continues their winning streak. At the same time, it does represent a break with the furious political commentary that marked their records since 2016’s American Band. While their recent work has been pitched outward, Welcome 2 Club XIII feels like an extended remembrance of days shared and passed between long-time bandmates Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, whose relationship dates back nearly 40 years. The most resonant moments on the record — Hood’s “The Driver,” Cooley’s “Every Single Storied Flameout” — reflect on glory days that weren’t as glorious as nostalgia might have you believe, while also expressing gratitude for having survived long enough to enjoy the luxury of looking back. As Cooley sings, “That part of you that feels alive is wired and can’t be severed from the damage-seeking part of you that runs it.”

Kendrick Lamar made a splash at Glastonbury last weekend by showing up in a crown of thorns, presumably the same one he wore for the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album cover, for his performance. It’s a fancy piece of headwear and it turns out it was part of an overall pretty expensive outfit.

In a video from Glastonbury that’s been making the rounds, Lamar is asked how much the outfit costs and he deflects, saying, “I don’t even know, this sh*t ain’t even out yet. But it’s LV, though.” The interviewer then asks more specifically about the cost of the crown and one of Lamar’s associates chimes in, “Three.” The interviewer responds, “Three what?” The associate clarifies, “Three million,” and the interviewer’s excited reaction to that news got a big laugh out of Lamar.

Vogue previously noted the “custom titanium and pavé diamond crown is a collaboration between the rapper, his longtime creative collaborator Dave Free, and the jeweler Tiffany & Co.” that was “designed over the course of 10 months” and features “8,000 cobblestone micro pavé diamonds totaling more than 137 carats, and weighs around 200g.” It also apparently took “more than 1,300 hours of work by four craftsman to handset the diamonds.” The value of the crown was previously estimated at around $200,000.

Maya Hawke didn’t hold back from sharing her thoughts on the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade while appearing on Tuesday’s episode of The Tonight Show.

“We just got into talking about the Supreme Court ruling and this essay that my mom wrote a couple of months ago when they were putting these further restrictions on abortion access, and it was sort of preceding this whole thing,” the Stranger Things star said. In 2021, Hawke’s mother, Uma Thurman, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which she revealed that she had an abortion when she was a teenager.

Hawke continued, “My mom wrote this really beautiful essay about her abortion that she got when she was really young, and about how if she hadn’t have had it, she wouldn’t have become the person that she’d become, and I wouldn’t exist, and how both of my parents lives would’ve been totally derailed if she hadn’t had access to safe and legal health care — fundamental health care.” She recognizes that wealthy people will “always be able to get abortions, but so many people, because of this ruling this week, will not only not be able to pursue their dreams, but actually lose their lives and be unsafe.”

And then:

You can probably guess what the bleeped word is. But just in case, Hawke said it two more times (after getting host Jimmy Fallon’s permission). “I can say, ‘F*ck the Supreme Court’? Oh, f*ck the Supreme Court. Yeah, rock on. But we’re gonna keep fighting, and we’re gonna win like our grandmothers did.” You can watch the interview above.