Last Thursday, August 15, Destroy Lonely posted what we now know to be album cover art alongside the caption, “LOVE LASTS FOREVER 8/30/2024 #blakamerika.” The official Love Lasts Forever album announcement came on Monday, August 19.
“Hope y’all love this as much as we do, took [about] a year to get right,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on August 15.
According to a press release, “Love Lasts Forever represents a pivotal moment in Lonely’s career, showcasing his growth as an artist and storyteller with its innovative and genre-defying sound.” Lil 88 executive produced the album. As of this writing, Destroy Lonely hasn’t shared the tracklist.
The Atlanta-bred artist continued hyping his sophomore LP on Monday, sharing on X that there are “two different versions of this project” and fans “will hear both.” He added in another post, “10 days, blakamerika top floor business. Its Lit. Im too excited.”
Destroy Lonely released If Looks Could Kill, his debut full-length album, on May 5, 2023. The album debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard albums chart.
Love Lasts Forever is out 8/30 via Opium/Interscope Records. Find more information here.
It’s a fun coincidence that two of the most exciting breakout stars of 2024 were born in the same part of Missouri within months of each other. Willard and Springfield — not New York or Los Angeles or Miami, but Willard and Springfield, Missouri, with a combined population of under 180,000 — are the birthplaces of Chappell Roan (Willard) and Cailee Spaeny (Springfield). One is the biggest non-Taylor Swift pop star of the moment, who is drawing record–breaking crowds, while the other is having a Glen Powell-like run of popular, critically-acclaimed movies but with only half the attention. It’s time to change that.
Born on July 24, 1998, Spaeny started in local theater before she made her on-screen debut in 2016’s short film Counting to 1000 (you can watch the crime-thriller on Vimeo). Two years later, she had a small role in Pacific Rim Uprising, but made enough of an impression to be one of the few good things about the otherwise-disappointing Pacific Rim sequel. With a knowing sense of humor, she explained what happened next to the New York Times: “This fresh-faced little girl comes to town. She’s from the Midwest, she’s got a bit of an accent, bright-eyed, bushy tailed. They jump on that opportunity.”
Suddenly, Spaeny was booking parts in quick succession — Dakota Johnson’s sister in Bad Times at the El Royale, a young Lynne Cheney in Best Picture nominee Vice, one of the teen witches in The Craft Legacy, as well as roles in FX’s Devs and HBO’s Mare of Easttown — but she was still a relative unknown.
Then came Priscilla, the exquisite and poignant biopic of Priscilla and Elvis Presley that earned Spaeny serious Oscar buzz (she was snubbed, but she did receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama). Director Sofia Coppolla was intimidated by the prospect of casting someone “that could believably pull off a journey from the age of 14 to 29,” as she told Deadline, but when she met Spaeney, “I found her to be thoughtful and sensitive.” An endorsement from Kirsten Dunst helped, too.
“Kirsten said how talented she was and how great she was to work with,” Coppola said. Spaeny and Dunst worked together on Alex Garland’s Civil War, which is quietly one of the major box office success stories of the year. A24’s mid-budget feature (which started filming before Priscilla but came out after) grossed over $120 million at the box office on a $50 million budget, but more importantly, like Glen Powell being attached to Tom Cruise’s hip while making Top Gun: Maverick, Spaeney found a movie star mentor in Dunst.
Unlike the dynamic between photojournalists Lee and Jessie in Civil War, Spaeney has learned the right lessons from Dunst. The Bring It On / The Virgin Suicides / Spider-Man / Melancholia / The Power of the Dog (the list could keep going) actress has stayed in the public eye for as long as she has with her ability to star in both emotionally complex indies and blockbusters appealing to the broadest audience possible, and now Spaeney can say the same thing.
There’s decades of expectations that come with playing the female lead in an Alien movie; Sigourney Weaver probably would have become a star no matter what, yet Ripley made her an icon. But Spaeney crushes it in Alien: Romulus. She commands the screen when she’s shooting a big gun at a bunch of wet aliens, and her scenes with David Jonsson’s robot brother Andy are genuinely touching. Plus, she looks cool as hell. The reception to Alien: Romulus has been divisive (I liked it, except for one thing I hated), but everyone agrees that Spaeney’s Rain does Ripley justice with her performance.
Science-fiction, action, drama, comedy, horror, mystery. There’s not one path Spaeney is drawn to. She wants to try it all. “Going from Civil War to Priscilla, and then Alien: Romulus,” she explained to Empire, “those are completely different films in every way. I’m trying to flip it on its head all the time to keep things interesting.” It’s a similar, refreshingly Marvel-free path as Powell, who bounced from crowd-pleasing sequel Top Gun Maverick to rom-com Anyone But You to the darkly funny Hit Man to disaster film Twisters in short order. It’s not time to make Cailee Spaeny happen. It’s already happening.
For her part, Spaeny is fine with keeping a low profile; she’s not even sure if Movie Star is in her future. “This could really easily be a chapter of my life and not my whole life,” she told the New York Times. “There’s only so many tricks an actor has up their sleeve.” And maybe that’s a part of what makes her such a special talent for this moment. We’re inundated by people who want to take over the world and drive the culture, but sometimes decisions made in pursuit of celebrity wind up making bad movies or forcing cringe moments. There’s such a thing as being too thirsty for fame. Maybe what we all need is someone who just wants to enjoy the ride and do cool sh*t.
Hopefully Spaeny will continue to do cool sh*t for as many summers as she wants.
Usually, a two-year gap between seasons is both customary (in the streaming age) and frustrating to viewers. Any resulting impatience would also ordinarily be the case for an FX series that has shades of both John Wick and Taken, two vengeance-focused action worlds that have viewers eagerly coming back for more, and sure, Jeff Bridges devotees are slightly impatient to see more of him in decades-spanning thriller-espionage series The Old Man. However, Bridges has had a hell of a time lately, which makes two years look like a fast turnaround. He recovered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after shooting the first season with a sizable tumor inside his stomach.
The Dude cannot stay down for long. Bridges now returns for more gripping action (and realistic action, as we will soon discuss) as ex-CIA operative Dan Chase, and fortunately, Bridges insists that he’s “feeling great now.” He’s also now acting alongside John Lithgow as Harold Harper as the two characters unite for a mission, so let’s roll into what to expect from the second season.
Plot
FX
As The Old Man‘s new trailer reveals, this season will bring back a key attraction: realistic action for a 75-year-old former assassin, who has still got “it,” but he’s slower and cannot exactly bash together heads like an Arnold Schwarzenegger character would do. As Bridges and executive producer Warren Littlefield have further hinted, the series will head “deep into Afghanistan” (with or without dogs, but Rottweilers will be present), and as the trailer previews, Dan and Harold (who is surely feeling outside of his cushier element right now) will attempt to retrieve Emily Chase/Angela (Alia Shawkat) from the clutches of warlord Faraz Hamzad. However, that trailer also suggests that perhaps she might not be so willing to be rescued.
That apparent turn of events jibes with FX’s second-season synopsis, which operates under the clusterf*ck of “all three men” (Dan, Harold, and Faraz) “claiming her as their daughter.” Cue an identity crisis and more chaos:
As Chase and Harper fight their way to get to Emily, Hamzad is forced to make decisions that could endanger his family and the village he has led faithfully for a lifetime. Khadija, Hamzad’s sister and trusted advisor, is concerned about the path her brother has taken and what it will cost them. As the stakes get higher and more secrets are uncovered, Zoe McDonald makes surprising moves after having been drawn into a new world by Chase….
The series is, of course, is based upon Thomas Perry’s 2017 same-named book, which paints layers of Dan Chase’s history and parties whose motives are not as they appear to be. The trailer suggests that Dan’s own “painting” will bite him in the butt this season, although to be semi-fair, Dan would have preferred that he would have never come back from his off-the-grid lifestyle in the first place. The fallout from the resulting confrontations will surely lead back into the show’s lingering question of who the “old man” of the show’s title will actually turn out to be.
As the aforementioned trailer also reveals, Amy Brenneman’s Zoe seems to be enjoying her changed lifestyle more than expected. As Brenneman has elaborated, “She’s an outsider” to Dan’s world, but “[s]he’s an American woman living in the twenty-first century. Her life is just as complex. She has to shape-shift and dissemble just as much as any spy to get through her day.”
By the way, the show’s resemblance to John Wick is pure coincidence but a welcome development, considering that John Wick was written about a 75-year-old ex-assassin ahead of Keanu Reeves joining the project.
Cast
Alia Shawkat will return as Emily/Angela. Perhaps it’s her world, and Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Pej Vahdat/Navid Negahban (who both portray the Afghanistan warlord at different ages) are simply living in it. The second season’s cast also includes Jacqueline Antaramian, Amy Brenneman, and Gbenga Akinnagbe.
Release Date
September 12 is when dads (and those who love them and their TV choices) will want to hop in front of the TV. FX will debut two episodes with next-day drops on Hulu, and weekly releases will follow for a total of eight episodes.
Trailer
This trailer doubles down on Soundgarden while showing Emily’s new situation and Harold roughing it by literally getting into the saddle:
Every week, Billboard unveils the top 10 songs on the latest Hot 100 chart. The most recent rankings, for the chart dated August 24, are out now, so let’s run down who had this week’s biggest hits.
10. Hozier — “Too Sweet”
“Too Sweet” enjoyed a week at No. 1 back in April, but it’s still dominating the Hot Rock Songs chart, which it leads for a 20th week.
9. Teddy Swims — “Lose Control”
You might think a week at No. 9 isn’t that special for a former No. 1 single, but this is the song’s 31st week in the top 10, which puts it tied with the eighth-most top-10 weeks this decade. (It has a way to go to catch up to The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” at No. 1 with 57 weeks.)
8. Sabrina Carpenter — “Please Please Please”
It was announced last week that Carpenter will perform at this year’s MTV VMAs, where she’ll perhaps bust out this former chart-topper.
7. Chappell Roan — “Good Luck, Babe!”
Speaking of 2024 VMAs performers: “Good Luck, Babe!” was at its all-time high of No. 6 last week, and it’s taken a slight slide this time around.
6. Tommy Richman — “Million Dollar Baby”
“Million Dollar Baby” may end up topping out at No. 2, but the viral hit is still chugging along respectfully in the top 10.
5. Billie Eilish — “Birds Of A Feather”
Here’s a new milestone for Eilish: “Birds Of A Feather” is now her fifth top-5 song, following “Bad Buy,” “Therefore I Am,” and “Lunch.” This makes Hit Me Hard And Soft her first album to generate multiple top-5 hits.
“Not Like Us” is still crushing it, as it’s atop the Hot Rap Songs chart for a 14th week and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a 12th total week.
2. Post Malone — “I Had Some Help” Feat. Morgan Wallen
Country has been dominating the charts in recent weeks as Malone’s Wallen collab is once again in the top 2 after a six-week run at No. 1.
1. Shaboozey — “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is not only an undeniable hit, but it’s one of the biggest of the year so far. This is the song’s sixth week at No. 1, which ties with with “I Had Some Help” for the most weeks on top in 2024.
The 2024 USA men’s basketball team will go down as one of the greatest collection of players ever assembled, as it was one last ride for the three most dominant players of this generation — LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant — and the first time all three had played together.
The result was a gold medal winning run in the Olympics, despite getting strong challenges from Serbia and France in the semifinals and gold medal game, respectively. Each player had incredible moments during the run, from KD’s perfect first half in the group stage opener against Serbia to LeBron’s triple-double in the semis to Steph erupting for 60 points in the last two games. The three stars looked to be having an incredible time, understanding this was the only chance they’d get to do this together, and enjoyed taking a victory lap after winning gold.
On a recent Twitch stream, Schroder addressed Durant’s post and decided to take a shot at the future Hall of Famer, saying it “tells me how weak he is as a person.”
“And then, they won, and Kevin Durant tweets “high IQ and entertainment.” For me, that’s just being weak,” Schroder says. “You have to say something to a person like me, who not even meant it to be negative. It’s just what I see from both sides. So, I didn’t appreciate it. I don’t care, but at the end of the day, that tweet or whatever he posted was because of me, and for me it was never no negative stuff. I respect all those guys, all GOATs, but to say that tells me how weak he is as a person. It is what it is, not everybody is strong, not everybody is in a good place.”
I must say, this is not the response of someone who doesn’t care. Clearly KD’s tweet struck a nerve, and while I understand Dennis having a 50 Cent “why he say f*** me for?” moment, I also think going the “he’s weak” route isn’t the best way to handle it. You could just note you didn’t mean your initial comments in a negative way and move on, but now he’s assured that KD will have a little something extra for him next year, both on the court and on social.
Has a Gen Zer in your life recently used the word “Demure” in your presence? Are you forced to scroll through 14 TikToks of people showing examples of things that are “very demure, very mindful” on socials, even though you don’t even have a TikTok account? That’s very, very demure of you. Very mindful. But what does it mean.
A popular makeup TikToker who goes by Jools Lebron recently posted a clip of herself on the platform where she explained what she wears for a work-appropriate look. “You see how I do my makeup for work? Very demure. Very mindful. I don’t come to work with a green-cut crease. I don’t look like a clown when I go to work. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work,” she says in the clip, which has been watched over six million times on TikTok alone. The clip made the rounds and was quickly met with reenactments made by JLo, Olivia Rodrigo, and even Joe Biden. Just try and imagine him attempting to open TikTok.
Demure, according to Merriam-Webster, means “affectedly modest, reserved, or serious.” It’s not a new word, but it’s being given a nice boost thanks to TikTok. Suddenly, The New York Times got in on it. Soon, the internet was flooded with various examples of the phrase from pop culture. Gilmore Girls is very demure, by the way. Hopefully, Emily In Paris gets her own demure moment soon.
After Lebron’s video made the rounds, the TikTok creator said she is able to “finance the rest of my transition” as a result of her fame and various brand deals. “TikTok has changed my life,” she added.
The band announced the Good News For People Who Love Bad News Tour today (August 19). It launches in Honolulu on October 28 and will wrap up in November with a three-night run at New York’s Brooklyn Steel.
Tickets for the tour go on sale starting August 23 at 10 a.m. local time. Find more information on the band’s website.
Find Modest Mouse’s upcoming tour dates below.
Modest Mouse’s 2024 Tour Dates: Good News For People Who Love Bad News Tour
10/28 — Honolulu, HI @ The Republik
10/30 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
11/01 — Portland, OR @ Rev Hall
11/02 — Portland, OR @ Rev Hall
11/03 — Portland, OR @ Rev Hall
11/05 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
11/06 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
11/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
11/08 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
11/09 — San Diego, CA @ The Sound
11/11 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
11/12 — Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse Omaha
11/13 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater
11/14 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
11/16 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
11/17 — Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
11/19 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
11/20 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
11/21 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11/22 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11/23 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Throughout his career, the Compton-bred rapper YG has proudly flaunted his affiliation with the Bloods street gang, which extends to everything from his spelling of the Hub City’s abbreviation (“BPT” as opposed to “CPT”) to his wardrobe choices. On Sunday, he used his standing as both a lifelong member of the Treetop Pirus faction and his celebrity status to help broker a peace with a rival Blood faction, Fruit Town Pirus, with a Peace Walk through his hometown alongside fellow Compton native rapper The Game and hundreds of members and their families.
YG, who just released his new album, Just Re’d Up 3, hosted a similar march in 2020 to protest the then-recent police shooting of Louisville native Breonna Taylor at her home. At the time, the march drew around 50,000 protestors, but YG’s involvement was criticized when it was revealed he would use footage of the protest in the music video for his song “FTP.”
Love Island USA fans — you’ve made it through the longest month of your life. Congrats! The wait is almost over for a reunion, too.
The season six finale premiered on July 21st, when it was announced that there would be a reunion, the first for a Love Island USA season. This way, the Islanders were able to leave the island, learn how famous they got while in Fiji, do a bunch of popular podcasts, and show up on the top of the Empire State Building for some reason. Then, they all hashed it out in front of the cameras one last time, and allegedly, some real drama went down.
Over the weekend, rumors swirled that the reunion would either be delayed or split into two parts (some fans blame Kaylor and Aaron for that) or cancelled altogether due to backlash. Luckily, they were just rumors. The reunion will air tonight, Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock. But sometimes when you log on at 8:55 the episode is already waiting for you like a little gift!
It’s unclear just how long the reunion, which was taped last week in New York City, will be. Episodes of Love Island ranged from 50 minutes to 120 minutes. Reunion episodes of Love Island UK normally land around an hour. Ariana Madix hinted on Watch What Happens Live that the reunion taping was long, so we can expect at least an hour to an hour and a half of drama rehashing. Fans were able to send in questions, and there are probably quite a lot based on the massive success of the season. Plus, the reunion was pretty crowded with Islanders, so 90 minutes should be the sweet spot. And eventually, all of those minutes will probably be made into TikToks.
(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Love Is Blind: UK episode will be found below.)
Love Is Blind: UK continues to work its way toward a promising season finale where the couples will confirm whether love is blind on their respective wedding days. Last week, the series released four episodes that updated viewers on the status of the couples’ relationship. We watched them complete their honeymoon trip before returning to London to get back to their regular lives.
The couples — which now includes Benaiah and Nicole after the latter ended her engagement with Sam — met each others’ families, as well as the cast mates they made connections with in the pods. Episode nine concluded with the guys and girls preparing for their wedding days by trying on suits and dresses. Some couples have some things to iron out (hello Catherine and Freddie), while others seem to be in a better position — for now at least.
When Do Love Is Blind: UK Episodes 10 And 11 Come Out?
Episodes 10 and 11 of Love Is Blind: UK season one will be available to stream on Netflix on August 21 at 3am EST/12 am PST. This follows a weekly release schedule that began with episodes 1-4 premiering on Netflix back on August 7. Episodes 5-9 were released the following week on August 14. Episode 12 — the season finale — will be released on August 25, just four days after episodes 10 and 11 are released on Netflix.
‘Love Is Blind: UK’ season 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Episodes 1-9 are out now.
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