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Another music icon will enter The Simpsons universe. Next Friday, Billie Eilish will voice herself in When Billie Met Lisa, a new short from The Simpsons.

In When Billie Met Lisa, the lattermost searches for a quiet place to practice her saxophone. Eilish invites Lisa to her studio for the jam session of a lifetime. Joining the “Happier Than Ever” singer in the short is her brother and collaborator Finneas, who produced the entirety of her albums When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and Happier Than Ever.

While this is Eilish’s first spin at voice acting in the realm of Disney, this is actually Finneas’ second. Earlier this year, Finneas voiced Jesse, a member of the fictional boy band 4*Town, in the Disney Plus original movie, Turning Red.

Is EGOT-ing in the O’Connells’ future? Last month, the two won an Oscar for Best Original Song for Eilish’s “No Time To Die” from the James Bond chapter No Time To Die. The two have also won several Grammy awards, including back-to-back Record Of The Year awards in 2020 and 2021 for Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and “Everything I Wanted.” Should When Billie Met Lisa secure an Emmy nomination in the future and win, it’ll only bring them one step closer to the coveted EGOT.

When Billie Met Lisa premieres 4/22 on Disney Plus.

Over the course of my conversation with Caracara frontman William Lindsay about the band’s new sophomore album New Preoccupations, he keeps returning to this idea of restraint. It’s a surprise — and a risk — in a time where people seem to be prioritizing music that overindulges, the kind that is short but jam-packed enough to intrigue the listener in a TikTok clip or on a Spotify playlist. As attention spans dwindle, maximalist songs are on the rise.

But at the same time, there’s been a theme of heavy bands whose songs used to burst with bombast taking it down a notch and settling into more quiet landscapes. Title Fight and Hundredth both shed their signature piercing, chaotic instrumentation for a woozier, more contained sound; Lindsay name-drops Deafheaven, admiring their shift from full-on metal to becoming “post-punk [leaning].” “I think, over time, you really start to see the value of restraint,” he contemplates about the group that released the rich Infinite Granite last year, “and how much you can accomplish by simplifying arrangements and individual parts and really focusing on — I guess a corny truism — the quality over quantity of the performances you’re capturing, the tones you’re dialing in, and thinking of songs in terms of living, breathing things that don’t always need to have every element all the time.”

In thinking about Deafheaven, he recognizes the way their progression has impacted Caracara’s. “With our first record [2017’s Summer Megalith], we wanted to go super small and super huge on almost every track on the whole thing. We wanted to get our point across and scream it at you, at every step along the way,” he says. “I think with more time spent playing together, listening to music together, and thinking through all this weird stuff together, we realized that the bands that we really look up to often are really about peeling back the layers and getting to the core essence of what’s going on. Deafheaven is an incredible example. We were well aware that they can create a magnificent, ten- to twelve-minute piece that covers an enormous amount of ground, and it’s almost more impressive when they withhold that from us and show us that they can write a clean post-punk track, too. A powerful, heavier screaming vocalist that can also sing is interesting to us.”

Caracara, who are a Philly-based quartet continuing to gain a modest but devoted cult-following, do not want to be a band that ends up with a song recommended by an algorithm. This can be noticed within the first few minutes of New Preoccupations; the tender, twinkling opener “My Thousand Eyes,” which features a celestial string arrangement, immediately explodes into the following song, “Hyacinth,” a fast-paced, angsty anthem. With Carlos Pacheco-Perez on the keys, George Legatos on the bass, and Sean Gill on the drums alongside Lindsay on vocals and guitar, as well as Will Yip on production and even Circa Survive’s Anthony Green on the track “Colorglut,” the album is an immersive reckoning with the highs and lows of addiction, with revelations, panics, and memories coming and going along the way. It’s designed to be heard in full. Lindsay, however, doesn’t want to call it a concept album, a term he associates mostly with prog-rock and double albums. “The record that I think does it maybe more perfectly than any record I’ve ever heard is — and I’m not sure if it would be appropriate to call it a concept album — Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming by M83,” he says. “There’s clearly a narrative there, there’s a story being told, but it’s not being thrown in your face. It’s not a plot-driven journey through a land; it’s more filmic in a way. It feels like a score to whatever it is that you’re experiencing while you’re listening to it.”

That ability for the music to resonate with its listener is a priority for Lindsay. In this way, he values restraint both in the sound and in the lyrics, not wanting to go too deep into detail about the topics he’s grappling with. “Something that I’m talking about a lot on this record is my own relationship with alcohol over the years, and coming to terms with feeling as though I had a problem, right as we were finishing writing most of this music. That’s not an experience that everyone has gone through, but I feel like through a good amount of just introspection, therapy, and recovery-minded thinking I’ve learned a lot about the different struggles that different people are going through at any given time,” he says. “And I think that in a story about addiction, there’s a lot there for anyone.”

New Preoccupations can be for anyone who has ever missed someone: “I remember you in an August way / Chiaroscuro haze / Saw you watching summer evaporate / Simple like the words you say,” he intones longingly on “Ohio,” an emotive portrait of the past. It can be for anyone who is desperate to feel something: “Atop the plateau of a vaguely restless mind / Might need a greater length of time / Between the comedown and the high,” he sings on the jaunty “Strange Interactions In The Night.” Though it’s riddled with darkness and danger, there’s something celebratory about it — a sort of gratitude for the chaos, and a wistful closing of that chapter. “I think it is easy after the fact to kind to be like, ‘Oh, that whole phase of my life was terrible. And I want to drag you through the gutter with me on this story.’ But that just that would not be honest for me to tell,” he says. “Alcohol did always provoke a sort of adventurousness in me that can be hard to come by otherwise. Through that, I’ve experienced some of the most beautiful moments of my life.” Restraint, then is also embedded within the topics he is dealing with in his lyrics; Lindsay had to step away from a source of happiness that was excessive and tumultuous to embrace simpler ways of living. But there is magic in restraint, providing someone with a fuller sense of appreciation for both the present and the past.

There is something special about reminiscing about drunk nights with a newfound sober lens, the kind that shines with clarity and acceptance. New Preoccupations and this prevalent integration of restraint represent a change in Caracara; there is more of a lucidity and understanding in the lyrics, as well as a greater patience within the sound. Caracara have found their footing; it seems that they know this, ending the album with the confident, cathartic screaming of the words “I’m finally free to let go,” repeated over and over like an incantation. This liberation is evident, and it makes their songs all the more powerful.

New Preoccupations is out now via Memory Music. Get it here.

Rob McElhenney turned 45 years old today. Let’s all wish the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Mythic Quest creator and star a happy birthday. If you want to get him something, sorry but it’s too late: he already got the best present.

“As you know, I take birthdays very seriously. I’m excited to unveil the @RMcElhenney Commemorative Urinal at @Wrexham_AFC Racecourse,” actor Ryan Reynolds tweeted on Thursday. The Adam Project star also included a video of himself standing next to the plaque (featuring an unflattering photo of McElhenney) at Racecourse Ground, the home of the soccer team, sorry, football club they co-own, Wrexham A.F.C. “Today, we celebrate Mr. Co-Chairman, Robert Lucinda McElhenney, with this memorial urinal,” Reynolds says in the video before popping a celebratory bottle of champagne.

McElhenney was, um, flattered by the gesture. “My dream has always been to urinate while staring at a bronzed plaque of my face. Thank you Ryan for making dreams come true!” he tweeted.

McElhenney and Reynolds became fast friends while texting during the pandemic. “I was in Mexico and I had posted a photograph of my wife and me drinking tequila,” the It’s Always Sunny star. “I remember getting a DM from Ryan, and he was like, ‘Stop drinking that sh*t. I’m going to send you a case of Aviation Gin.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, okay, that sounds good. I’ll drink anything.’ Then Ryan said, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m a big fan of yours.’ And I said, ‘Obviously I’m a big fan of yours.’ And we just became text buddies.”

And now their friendship is immortalized in urinal form.

Meghan McCain has reacted to the news of Elon Musk‘s offer to buy Twitter, and in classic Meghan-style, no one can figure out what she’s trying to say. The conservative commentator fired off a tweet on Thursday morning where she lamented the amount of threats she receives on the social media platforms. McCain also name-dropped former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and claimed that he “personally called” her because of the amount of vitriol was so high.

“I’ve been on this platform 12 years & basically not a day goes by someone doesn’t threaten to kill or rape me. It’s so bad @jack personally called me about it,” McCain tweeted. “Women deserve better than what’s allowed to take place here – and the woke liberals in Silicon Valley don’t give a sh*t.”

Here’s where McCain’s message gets confusing. She seems to be saying that the situation on Twitter got so bad because of “wokeness,” and it’s very hard to read if she believes Musk will improve the situation. If she thinks Musk will somehow stamp out the “wokeness” and improve Twitter, McCain is sorely mistaken because the Tesla CEO is pushing for less content moderation. He’s a “free speech absolutist,” which essentially means anything goes.

If McCain thinks Musk taking over Twitter will be bad, she chose the most convoluted way to express that point because it definitely doesn’t come through in her tweet. Her main gripe seems to be that “woke liberals” allowed Twitter threats to run rampant, which more content moderation, not less, would fix. If McCain fears Musk will exacerbate the problem, she should just say that. Instead, she griped about “wokeness” and highlighted a problem that Musk has no intention of solving.

You can see reactions to McCain’s tweet below:

(Via Meghan McCain on Twitter)

Tomberlin has released several therapeutic songs ahead of the release of her upcoming second album, I Don’t Know Who Needs To Hear This.... On her latest, “Sunstruck,” she finds solace in her own company.

In the Ryan Schnackenberg-directed visual, we see Tomberlin in a photoshoot, applying and removing her makeup, riding through the city in a car, and walking along the beach. The beach is where she ends her day, basking in the sounds of the ocean and in the sight of the sun setting.

“This is an aerial view love song that is also not a love song,” said Tomberlin in a statement. “It is more a love song to forced distance, time alone with yourself, letting go, searching for yourself and the healing that takes place when you make those things an active focus in your life,” says Sarah Beth Tomberlin. “These things are choices, they don’t just happen on their own. You can choose to practice them or you can choose stagnancy. This is a love song to the growth that often can take place if you choose to tend to your own life’s garden.”

Check out “Sunstruck” above.

I Don’t Know Who Needs To Hear This… is out 4/29 via Saddle Creek. Pre-save it here.

John Mayer was joined by a special guest last night during a stop on his Sob Rock tour. During his performance in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena, Maren Morris surprised the audience on stage as the two opened the concert with Mayer’s live band for a performance of the Sob Rock track, “Last Train Home.”

Later on in the show, Morris joined Mayer, as they dueted the fan-favorite “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” from Mayer’s 2006 album Continuum. Following the performance, Morris proclaimed, “My high school self just died.”

Though this is the first time the two have dueted vocally, the two previously collaborated at 2021 Grammy Awards, where Mayer played guitar and vocally harmonized during Morris’ performance of “The Bones,” a standout track from her 2019 album, Girl. Morris is also credited as a background vocalist on the album version of “Last Train Home.”

Ahead of last year’s Grammy’s, Morris spoke to People of her friendship with Mayer, saying, “He’s just smart as a whip. He is also really, really thoughtful and he internalizes every other word he says. I feel like it’s kind of adorable.”

Check out Mayer and Morris’ performance of “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room” above.

Never put it past the MAGA cheerleaders to not understand that “free speech” doesn’t apply to social media companies, which are obviously allowed to put forth their own policies on the subject. Twitter, of course, has been the target of much far-right grumbling ever since the platform finally banned Donald Trump for continuing to encourage the January 6 insurrectionists by tweeting false election claims.

And so, the Elon Musk Twitter saga is of great interest to the MAGAs (like rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert), who for some reason believe that this is the key to getting Trump back on Twitter (i.e., “taking back what is ours”). Last week, Elon bought up a significant number of shares in Twitter but declined to join the board for unknown reasons at the time. Maybe he balked at a background check, according to speculation, but as Elon put things on Thursday, he had no faith in management. He wants to own more things, apparently, and so, Elon revealed that he’s offered to buy Twitter $41 billion cash.

He very much wants to “unlock” the “extraordinary potential” for Twitter as far as “free speech” goes. So, it sounds like he will let anything be typed out, regardless of potential harm. A random purchase doesn’t sit well with anyone who watched what happened to MySpace, but more to the point, pundit Max Boot expressed concern.

“I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter,” Boot tweeted. “He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.”

A massive objection came, naturally, from QAnon troll extraordinaire Marjorie Taylor Greene, who fired off one of her classic “communist” insults in response. And Greene doesn’t seem to recall that she doesn’t want Jimmy Kimmel to have “free speech.” In fact, she called the Capitol Police after he made a joke about her. Nonetheless, she tweeted this mess:

“Kill freedom of speech to save democracy? Say you’re a communist. Just say it. You’re actually scared of people freely discussing ideas and saying words. You’re terrified of the impact on politics when truth isn’t censored. I’m offended by your weakness.”

In response, the “Kimmel” comebacks began to roll in.

Kimmel should have fun with this one tonight!

A person who broke into DaBaby‘s home in North Carolina was shot and injured Wednesday night, according to The Morganton News Herald. Around 7:45 pm police responded to a reported shooting at the property, taking the injured individual to a medical facility for treatment. The person was apparently on the football field on the property, but further details are scant as police are still investigating.

The home has been the center of a number of complaints from neighbors, with 31 calls for service to the Iredell County emergency communications office since the rapper moved in December of 2019. The majority of the complaints regard to noise and lighting, with burglar alarms going off and the construction of a wall and guard towers apparently annoying the citizens of the quiet neighborhood. A report about the complaints quoted some neighbors speculating that the rapper was building a football field — speculation that has turned out to indeed be true.

DaBaby was previously involved in another shooting in 2018. The rapper says that he was approached and threatened by an armed man while shopping at Walmart with his children. DaBaby shot the man, who later died, claiming self-defense. He was later sentenced to one year on probation for carrying a concealed firearm.

Donald Trump is getting blasted after a recent appearance on Fox News where he touted the “beautiful” supply chains that he had during his administration. Supply chains so perfect, he never had to even talk about them. Despite being president when the coronavirus pandemic threw the global economy into disarray and led to supermarkets rationing paper products due to widespread shortages, Trump slammed Joe Biden’s administration for leaving stores “half-empty.”

“You go to stores and they’re half empty. Many stores, they can’t get product. They can’t get anything,” Trump ranted. “You go to luxury stores or non-luxuy stores or supermarkets, and the shelves, or in some cases, half-bare. And nobody’s ever seen it. We didn’t even have to discuss supply chains during my administration because it was a perfect moving machine. It was beautiful.”

Obviously, anyone who was alive during the opening months of the pandemic remembers when store shelves really were bare as supermarkets struggled to restock from a combination of supply chain disruptions and a lack of labor. In fact, one particular item became increasingly difficult to obtain: toilet paper. Not being able to handle your bathroom business isn’t something Americans easily forget, and Trump found himself being roasted on social media by people who distinctly recall the outrageous lengths they went to for toilet tissue.

Let the reactions below be a lesson to future politicians. Deprive Americans of their Charmin at your own peril.

(Via Acyn on Twitter)