Continuing the story of their 2021 breakthrough album, True Love, Austin duo Hovvdy have announced a new EP called Billboard For My Feelings. Their upcoming EP consists of four songs written during the True Love sessions, most of which are composed of synth- and acoustic guitar-driven pop melodies.
“I allowed myself to focus more on how everything feels, and a little less about telling a complex story,” said Hovvdy member Charlie Martin in a statement. “Both are super valuable — how a melody or texture makes you feel, versus how a super-emotional piece of songwriting impacts you.”
“We got to have more fun; we got to cut back,” added Hovvdy member Will Taylor. “I’m realizing there are many forms Hovvdy can return to, and this EP is a different form.”
Ahead of Billboard For My Feelings, Hovvdy has shared a video for “Hide,” a song that Taylor says is “a lighthearted song about learning when to let your thoughts run wild and when to batten them up.” The song’s video is a kaleidoscopic montage of found footage of blooming flowers, butterfly wings, and ocean creatures.
Check out “Hide” above and the Billboard For My Feelings cover art and tracklist below.
Bradley Pinkerton
1. “Ruby”
2. “Hide”
3. “Everything”
4. “Town”
Billboard For My Feelings is out 5/27 via Grand Jury.
Last year, Justin Bieber released his sixth studio album Justice, though not without some controversy. He has kept up his momentum since then, releasing “Honest,” last week’s collaboration with Houston, Texas-native rapper Don Toliver, and returning to his interest in hip hop. Today, in an interview with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden, Bieber divulged that a new album is in the works already, saying it’s “almost done” and “it should be dropping not too long from now.” He also mentioned that there are a lot of features on it, including John Mayer.
“Wicked guitar solo, so that was really cool for me,” Bieber said. “He’s someone who I’ve looked up to for a long time. So we were at Henson the studio, and I was working on this song and he came in and he’s like, ‘Can I go in the booth?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, bro, go in.’ And so he went in the booth and then he came out and he laid a guitar solo and it was just like, it was mind-blowing to see him actually operate in his gift like that, being able to like see it first-hand, because like he is on another level. It’s insane.”
While there isn’t much other information about the album yet, we’ll almost certainly hear more as its release nears.
In the pivotal, weirdest, and most memorable scene in The Northman, Nicole Kidman delivers the monologue of her career. The monologue is loaded. Kidman’s character, Queen Gudrún, tells her son Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) that everything he thought he believed was a lie. After escaping death when he was a boy, Amleth spent his entire life preparing to get revenge for his father’s death at the hands of his uncle, Fjölnir. Amleth also swore that he would save his mother who, from his perspective, was taken by Fjölnir unwillingly. Except everything Amleth is fighting for is a lie. Gudrún wanted her husband and Amleth’s father, King Aurvandill killed, and she begged Fjölnir to do it for her.
The monologue requires seamless, rhythmic expositional dialogue that simultaneously suggests the protagonist’s motivations are pointless. Gudrún seduces Amleth (her son, in case you have already forgotten). She kissed him in a sexual way, not in a mother kissing her son in the cheek way, and proposes a scenario in which Amleth kills everyone and the two run off together (Viking life!). The scene could have gone poorly if done by any other actor in any other way. Kidman strikes the balance of sincere melodrama and camp, making The Northman her best performance in years, and one of the best of her career.
Normally when you’re watching a Nicole Kidman performance, even some of her best, you are always, in the back of your mind, aware that you are watching Nicole Kidman. This is true, and likely by design, for most of The Northman. During the big monologue, Kidman is so absorbed in the performance that she disappears. Her face is the same save for some aging makeup: she looks exactly like Nicole Kidman but with long, blonde hair. But as the twist is revealed, Kidman is gone; her face, hiding in the shadows and lit only by firelight, contorts itself but somehow stays the same.
For a majority of The Northman, Nicole Kidman feels like she’s simply there as a very famous person who was cast in a standard motherly role to get people to see the very weird Viking movie (The Northman is a very good, but very weird movie. Cannot stress enough how weird it is). Queen Gudrún spends most of the movie in the shadows, portrayed in the narrow way Amleth sees her: a helpless Queen who lost her husband and needs to be saved. Kidman smoothly deceives the audience with a standard performance, making the twist shocking although it still feels earned. Looking back, Kidman’s performance plants seeds in a fit of laughter that could be interpreted as screams, loving looks that could also be hateful.
Nicole Kidman has always been a versatile actor, as open to pure camp like Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers and the AMC ad as she is to awards season bait like The Hours, which won her an Oscar. She is also, for the record, always open to wearing a wig, big or small. She’s done musicals like Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge!, her best performance to date because it combines her ability to execute the work of offbeat writers/filmmakers with her idiosyncrasies as well as her ability to deliver natural, heart-wrenching melodrama with her gentle charisma. The Northman director Robert Eggers understood these strengths and pushed her to go far beyond what anyone would ever expect. Eggers tends to do this, given that he is capable of getting surprising performances out of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, two of the most chaotic, uncanny actors to ever do it. In The Northman, Nicole Kidman is doing her best Willem Dafoe performance, as is her right.
Only an actor so approachable and so loved like Kidman can rip your heart out so quickly and cruelly, then pull off trying to make out with her son. Kidman’s a reliable performer and while she has certainly given good performances in the past several years including her performance as a victim of domestic abuse (coincidentally opposite The Northman co-star Alexander Skarsgård) on HBO’s Big Little Lies, her performance in The Northman is indicative that she’s not done surprising us yet.
Sebastian Stan almost always (slightly explicit link here) understands the assignment. However, he ignored the Met Gala assignment, and that’s absolutely alright. Preferred, even. The “Gilded Glamour” theme worked just fine for Kim Kardashian and Billie Eilish. A not-Jared Leto attendee gathered plenty of attention for outrageousness, but there was one attendee who looked as comfy-but-still-stylish as could be.
And that’d be the guy who plays Bucky Barnes in the MCU. Sebastian showed off his hot pink Valentino (an outfit that would have made Jason Momoa jealous) on Instagram.
We’re not even halfway through the year, and Stan’s proven that he’s one of the most unpredictable Hollywood players currently out there. He worked it hard as the frontman of Pam & Tommy and then moved on to play a cannibal in Fresh. This follows up on last year’s dramatic outing in Monday, all while still carefully balancing what’s going on with Marvel and press outings galore in the middle of a freaking pandemic.
So yeah, the guy deserved a little comfort rather than to wear a stuffy suit.
Getty Image
The rest of our Met Gala coverage can be found here, and here’s to the rest of an equally unpredictable 2022 for the guy who warned us all by playing Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya. Heck, I’d suggest putting Stan into a movie with Robert Pattinson to double the chaos, but that happened already in The Devil All The Time. (It’s a worthy watch.)
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.
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Toro Y Moi — Mahal
Toro Y Moi, the musical project of musician, visual artist, and chillwave pioneer Chaz Bear, shared his seventh studio album Mahal this week. Armed with chilled-out electro-pop beats and distorted psych-rock chords, much of the album is covertly inspired by his Filipino culture and uncovers the complexities of modern life.
Girlpool — Forgiveness
Girlpool may have started out as an acoustic duo in the mid-2010’s, but with their latest LP Forgiveness, the group venture into an electro-twinged sound. The confessional 12-track effort dives into fantasies, past relationships, and newfound personal truths with electro-pop catharsis.
Kelly Lee Owens — LP.8
Prolific producer Kelly Lee Owens is back with LP.8, an experimental follow-up to 2020’s Inner Song. The avant-pop project is a dizzying combination of spoken-word prose and a compelling blend of beats resulting in a raw and poetic effort as a whole.
Faye Webster — Car Therapy Sessions
It hasn’t been long since Faye Webster released her 2021 favorite I Know I’m Funny Haha. This week, the singer re-imagined a handful of the album’s tracks with a full orchestra for the 5-track project Car Therapy Sessions. The angelic collection also features two brand-new tracks, “Car Therapy” and “Suite: Johnny,” which are aching ballads underscored by a heart-tugging string section.
Tomberlin — I Don’t Know Who Needs To Hear This
Tomberlin burst onto the indie music scene with her revered 2018 debut effort At Weddings. Now, the singer shares her ambitious sophomore album I Don’t Know Who Needs To Hear This, a collection of 11 personal and tenderly minimalist tracks encapsulating a range of emotions from confinement to self-growth, and everything in between.
Melody’s Echo Chamber — Emotional Eternal
Neo-psychedelia trendsetter Melody’s Echo Chamber returned with her latest album since 2018’s acclaimed Bon Voyage. The album explores a different side to the singer; A new mother, Melody has a renewed since of bliss and childlike wonder. She remains playful over nine tracks, combining fuzzy, comforting vocals with groovy compositions and cascading chords.
Beabadoobee — “See You Soon”
Giving another look at her upcoming album Beatopia, Beabadoobee drops the healing track “See You Soon.” Giving a contrast to some of her recent rocking tracks, “See You Soon” is on the softer side, reflecting on aimlessness over a laid-back beat. “I want it to sound like a breath of fresh air, like a realization of some sort,” Bea said in a statement. “I wrote it during a time where I was away a lot and making a lot of mistakes and doing a lot of things to help me figure a lot of stuff out.”
Arcade Fire — “Unconditonal I (Lookout Kid)”
Arcade Fire is just a few days away from their comeback album We, which they have previewed with a few singles and a Coachella performance. Their new track “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)” is another inspiring anthem from Arcade Fire, issuing a hopeful reminder of our power within. “‘Lookout Kid’ is a reminder, a lullaby for the end times, sung to my son, but for everyone… Trust your heart, trust your mind, trust your body, trust your soul,” Win Butler said of the latest single.
Tegan & Sara — “F*cking Up What Matters”
Fresh off their newly inked deal with Mom+Pop, Tegan And Sara offer the propulsive power-pop single “F*cking Up What Matters.” Despite their successful past two years (see: their book, album, and upcoming TV show), the song takes a witty approach to all the ways their lives haven’t gone according to plan. Playful and upbeat, “F*cking Up What Matters” is a buoyant preview of their new era of music.
The Black Keys — “It Ain’t Over”
The Black Keys’ new single “It Ain’t Over” is special in more ways than one. Not only does the rhythmic and fuzzy track point to their upcoming album Dropout Boogie, but it was built around a special instrument inspired by drummer Patrick Carney’s late uncle. They used an Optigan, also known as an Orchestron, which is a keyboard the uses pre-programmed dics (kind of like CDs).
Angel Olsen — “Big Time”
Angel Olsen is about a month away from the release of her album Big Time, and she just unveiled the title track. Wispy and twangy, “Big Time” points to a return to Olsen’s stripped-down roots. Unlike her synth-laden 2019 All Mirrors, “Big Time” is an Appalachian-inspired ballad accompanied by a slide guitar and Olsen’s room-filling vocals.
Muna — “Kind Of Girl”
Stand-out trio Muna have been making waves since they signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ label and released the smash-hit single “Silk Chiffon.” Now pointing to an official LP, the band shares the single “Kind Of Girl.” The new track contrasts last year’s pop-leaning “Silk Chiffon,” instead taking a more country-inspired approach. “This song is the album’s country moment, and in some ways we feel it is the heart of the record,” says member Katie Gavin. “This song explores the power of language and the words we use to describe who we are and who we want to be.”
Dehd — “Empty In My Mind”
Muna wasn’t the only indie-rock trio to drop music this week. Chicago-based band Dehd shared the rhythmic single “Empty In My Mind,” previewing their upcoming effort Blue Skies. Detailing the feeling of being dumbstruck by a crush, the track features clean and sparse instrumentation — reflecting its title.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
While on the red carpet at the Met Gala last night, Jack Harlow was asked about his role in the upcoming remake of the classic basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump. In reply, he admitted that he never actually watched the original until after he was cast in the remake, which means it took him a FULL YEAR to do so after I brought it up in my interview with him ahead of his two-on-two game at NBA All-Star 2021 (did I manifest the remake happening? I don’t know. I’m happy to take credit).
“Can I be honest?” he confessed in response to a Vogue reporter’s question about whether he was familiar with the source material. “I was obviously familiar with it, it’s an iconic title and I’ve seen the movie poster, but I didn’t watch it until I got offered the role. I see why it’s a classic.”
And while news of Harlow’s casting met mixed reviews on social media, his performance in this year’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game showed he’s got the range for the role — literally, as he hit multiple 25-footers, despite some wonky shooting form. Meanwhile, there was plenty of interest in his on-screen partner, with everyone from Drake to Quavo being suggested for the role. However, the Wesley Snipes to Harlow’s Woody Harrelson will be played by Sinqua Wells from The Breaks, Friday Night Lights, and Teen Wolf. Meanwhile, Jack himself might just be hitting up his old buddy Tyler Herro for some pointers, since he now knows just what he has to live up to.
You would have to (dare to be) stupid to not be excited for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the “Weird Al” Yankovic bio-comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe as the spoof-master supreme. “Wearing the Hawaiian shirt is a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly,” the Harry Potter actor (who had the only good take about the Slap) said about the Roku Channel movie. “I’m honored to finally share with the world the absolutely 100-percent unassailably true story of Weird Al’s depraved and scandalous life.”
In the teaser trailer above, Radcliffe is a ripped, hard-drinking Yankovic, who in real life doesn’t drink and has never done drugs. “I’ve been around people that smoked dope, pot, Mary Jane, reefer. I enjoyed being around those people in college because it was very easy to make them laugh. But it was never my thing and my parents drilled into me not to ever take drugs, so out of respect for them I never did,” he told Rolling Stone. “Maybe when I’m 75 years old I might be ready for them. We’ll see what happens.”
Later in the teaser (which is set to “Like a Surgeon”), Radcliffe does the splits, gets into a fight, and asks, in his toughest movie guy voice, if anyone has an accordion. He’s immediately surrounded by accordions. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which looks like the best movie since UHF, premieres on the Roku Channel this fall.
After ordering a handful of dating shows last month, Roku is now working on a collection of cooking and lifestyle shows. Who knows what will be next! Perhaps a Roku stunt show?
The streaming service announced the first show, titled Martha Cooks, to be hosted by the iconic businesswoman Martha Stewart as she goes through a hundred of her favorite recipes right from her kitchen. Next up is Martha Holidays, which will feature Stewart’s holiday traditions. The third show is Martha Garden (do you see the trend here?) with tips and tricks from Stewart’s legendary garden.
“I am so excited to bring new and engaging content and beloved episodes created by me and my team from throughout the years to the Roku audience,” Stewart said in a statement. Though she seems more excited about Pete Davidson.
Following Stewart will be the legendary chef Emeril Lagasse and his two shows: Emeril Cooks and Emeril Tailgates. Who is in charge of naming content over at Roku? The shows will highlight Lagasse’s dishes and techniques made famous in his hugely popular restaurants.
Last but not least, Christopher Kimball will also have two new shows: Milk Street’s Cooking School with recipes from around the world, and Milk Street’s My Family Recipe, which will feature Kimball and his family recreating cherished family recipes.
So, overall, if you need some help with cooking, or just need something to leave on in the background besides the Roku city backdrop, you’re in luck.
The pop world flooded this week with new releases that are going to be perfect summer anthems. From Justin Bieber and Don Toliver’s trap-tinged “Honest” to Maggie Lindemann and Kellin Quinn’s angst-filled “How Could You Do This To Me,” all of these new songs reverberate with intense emotion and bass, making them ideal to blast on a road trip.
Though the “Stay With Me” singer is known for ballads of love and heartbreak, Sam Smith is looking inward on this new track “Love Me More.” His heartfelt vocals are the driving force against casual beats as he grapples with insecurities and problems with self-esteem: “Have you ever felt like being somebody else? / Feeling like the mirror isn’t good for your health?” With the repetition of the phrase “love me more,” it’s clear that he’s making progress and moving into a better place.
Khalid — “Skyline”
“Young Dumb & Broke” singer Khalid is grateful in “Skyline.” Buoyed by an exuberant bassline and a catchy rhythm, this new, feel-good song is about living your best life. “It’s like I’m living my dream / Feels like we’re on LSD,” Khalid sings as he dances in a a green, open field in the music video. It drips with a sense of freedom and peace, which is very much needed right now.
Kehlani — “Everything”
Kehlani’s Blue Water Road came out this week, and this sparkling track is representative of the intimate, thoughtful nature of this album, which they described as “an emotional journey, a sexual journey, and a spiritual journey.” They also said that it’s “light, transparent, and the sun is shining right through it.” This brightness is evident on “Everything“; their voice glimmers, and violins help the song soar.
Maggie Lindemann, Kellin Quinn — “How Could You Do This To Me”
As pop punk continues to spread with Avril Lavigne, Machine Gun Kelly, and Willow all bringing it back to the mainstream, Maggie Lindemann is an underrated voice in this current scene. She teamed up with emo veteran Kellin Quinn, bandleader of Sleeping With Sirens, for this blistering, angsty anthem. The searing instrumentals resemble that of Paramore’s “Misery Business,” while the lyrics are as edgy and sharp-edged as possible: “You know I like to take control / so I’ll be leaving you out here to bleed.”
Justin Bieber, Don Toliver — “Honest”
Justin Bieber seems to be as capricious as Machine Gun Kelly, ricocheting back and forth between genres. With “Honest,” a collaboration with Don Toliver, the “Peaches” singer is flirting with a hip hop sound again, after leaning back into pop with last year’s Justice. He dons a ski mask in this new music video — Twenty One Pilots style — and he uses his words sparingly: “Honest / You’re modest / I like it,” he utters.
Holly Humberstone — “Sleep Tight”
On “Sleep Tight,” British singer Holly Humberstone’s second song that’s co-written by The 1975’s Matty Healy, she captures the feeling of longing for stability. “I wrote ‘Sleep Tight’ about the uncertainty of friendships evolving into something more,” she said about the song, which deals with fear and regret, but also hope that things will work out. Her voice is sincere and brimming with emotion, and the nostalgia reaches a high when she sings: “God knows I’ve missed this feeling.”
Ava Max — “Maybe You’re The Problem”
Ava Max returned this week with this abrasive, fed-up anthem “Maybe You’re The Problem,” about recognizing the toxicity of a relationship. “You hate my friends / Turns out they were right,” she sings with confidence and sass. It doesn’t focus on the negative, though; the track is about moving on to better things.
Max — “Gucci Bag”
This groovy, ’80s-style track from Max is both irresistible and funny. It’s a love song stepped in materialism: “I’m in my Gucci Bag / Lookin’ so damn fly / Come and kiss me babe (why) / Take me satellite high,” Max sings, his vocals high-pitched and lazy in a luxurious kind of way. It’s only a little over two minutes, wasting no time.
Zolita — “I F*cking Love You”
Zolita is over paparazzi and press on her new song “I F*cking Love You,” and she’s giving herself over completely to feeling. “What if I let it slip? Tell you that / Oh my God, I f*cking love you,” she sings in the chorus, finally letting her guard down. The music video captures her shift from worried to carefree with quite a few steamy scenes.
Lexi Jayde — “Self Sabotage”
Lexi Jayde prefaces the music video for “Self Sabotage” with a statement about the way a breakup last year made her feel as if her world was ending. “So here I am 8 months later, and I’m the best version of myself,” she writes. This song, though, encapsulates the pain that immediately follows the end of a relationship. It has the illusion of permanence and has a way of feeling inescapable: “Drowning in my panic attacks / I’m sick of suffocating in my tears,” she sings, but she holds onto her glimmer of hope that eventually sets her free.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of three teams currently trying to fill a head coaching vacancy, along with the Kings and Hornets, but they seem willing to be patient this offseason while waiting for a full complement of candidates to be available.
We likely won’t hear much about Snyder’s situation for some time as he’s about to have hip replacement surgery, and on Nurse’s end, the Raptors are not looking to let their coach explore other opportunities. On Tuesday, Masai Ujiri met with the media and was asked about the Nurse rumors and noted that no one’s asked him for permission on Nurse before offering up a pretty funny response that he too likes to dream, but teams hoping for Nurse to come available can “keep dreaming.”
Full Masai Ujiri end-of-season availability is up. SPOILER: Nick Nurse isn’t going anywhere
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) May 3, 2022
“No team has contacted me,” Ujiri said. “And I see all the stuff that you guys see. I dream like they dream. I want Messi. I want Renaldo. I want Kobe Bryant. So they can keep dreaming. I dream too. … I’m not going into that Grange. How I dreams? Just like the Lakers [laughs].”
It would’ve been shocking for the Raptors to grant the Lakers permission to talk to Nurse about their opening, so this comes as little surprise, but it’s a great quote from Ujiri and a reminder that sometimes when we see things floated publicly, it’s as much about hoping and dreaming as it is something that could realistically happen.
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