The F1 movie soundtrack is the gift that keeps on giving, and today (June 24), it gives again with the release of Peggy Gou’s kinetic single “D.A.N.C.E.”
Gou says of the song, “This track to me is all about connecting with joy and feeling free. I hope it makes people want to dance all summer long.”
For Gou, the track arrives after her latest album, 2023’s I Hear You. The project spawned her biggest hit to date: “(It Goes Like) Nanana,” which has over 600 million streams on Spotify and reached the top 5 of the US dance chart.
Listen to “D.A.N.C.E.” above. Also check out Gou’s upcoming tour dates below.
Peggy Gou’s 2025 Tour Dates
06/30 — Circoloco, DC10 @ Ibiza
07/06 — Kappa Futur Festival @ Turin, Italy
07/13 — MAD Cool Festival @ Madrid, Spain
07/14 — Indie Beach @ St Tropez, France
07/16 — Montreux Jazz Festival @ Montreux, Switzerland
07/16 — Rimini, Italy
07/27 — Pacha @ Ibiza
08/02 — Parkoram @ Istanbul, Turkey
08/03 — Sunny Hill Festival @ Pristina, Kosovo
08/09 — Les Plages Electroniques @ Cannes, France
08/14 — Phi Beach @ Sardinia, Italy
08/15 — Panorama Festival @ Puglia, Italy
08/16 — Bittersweet Festival @ Poznan, Poland
08/17 — WECANDANCE Festival @ Belgium
09/21 — Portola Festival @ San Francisco, CA
10/17 — III Points Festival @ Miami, FL
F1 The Album is out 6/27 via Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
The 2025 XXL Freshman class has been revealed. This year’s class includes breakout stars such as Gelo, Ray Vaughn, and Samara Cyn, as well as viral stars 1900Rugrat, BabyChiefDoit, EemTriplin, Ian, Lazer Dim 700, Loe Shimmy, Nino Paid, and YTBFatt. See below for more info about each of these rising stars.
1900Rugrat
Hailing from West Palm Beach, Florida, Rugrat is signed to 300 Entertainment and first gained popularity thanks to his freestyles — specifically his song “One Take Freestyle.”
BabyChiefDoit
At 17 years old, BabyChiefDoit is the youngest member of this year’s class. A Chicago native, he’s best known for tracks like “Snooze You Lose” and “The Viper.”
Eem Triplin
After getting his start as a producer for other artists, Eem Triplin switched to rapping and singing his own tunes, leading to the release of his album Melody of a Memory early this year.
Gelo
If you haven’t heard Gelo’s song “Tweaker” by now, you don’t know ball. Triple entendre, don’t even ask me how. The former hooper turned rapper is preparing the release of his debut album, which drops this week.
Ian
He’s not Tyler The Creator’s favorite, but with the support of Lil Yachty (himself a former Freshman), the Dallas suburbanite has generated a passionate fanbase among the Lyrical Lemonade/Rolling Loud set.
Lazer Dim 700
I first heard Lazer Dim as a guest on Denzel Curry’s “Still In The Paint” and the Florida native’s support has been instrumental in helping the Georgian Lazer Dim find an audience for his unique, hyperactive sound.
Loe Shimmy
Another Florida artist, Loe Shimmy’s distinctive voice (a wobbly nasal croak) has led to standout performances on tracks such as “Let It Out” and his verse on Hurricane Wisdom’s “Salute.”
Nino Paid
Columbia Records picked up the PG County, Maryland artist in 2023 after the viral success of his song “Pain & Possibilities,” leading to the release of two full-length projects to date, last year’s Can’t Go Bacc and this February’s Love Me As I Am.
Ray Vaughn
The TDE-signed Long Beach rapper has made lots of noise this year as one of the primary participants in Joey Badass’ one-sided proxy war with Kendrick Lamar, standing in for his former labelmate with fiery diss tracks defending not just his Compton neighbor, but the wider Los Angeles regional scene.
Samara Cyn
Samara Cyn, currently on tour with Smino, just dropped her EP, Backroads, as a follow-up to her critically hailed debut, The Drive Home.
YTB Fatt
Usually, Memphis artists are from Tennessee, but Fatt is putting West Memphis, Arkansas on the map. Ironically, he’s doing so with the help of Memphis native Moneybagg Yo, as a member of the “Said Sum” rapper’s Loaf Boyz Ventures label.
The last time we heard from Mac DeMarco, it was with the release of a 199-song album, One Wayne G, in 2023. More recently, he announced a huge tour, and now there’s an album behind it: Today (June 24), DeMarco announced Guitar.
He also shared the chilled-out single “Home.” DeMarco calls it “a song I wrote at my home in Los Angeles about what home means to me” and says of the album:
I think Guitar is as close to a true representation of where I’m at in my life today as I can manage to put to paper. I’m happy to share this music, and look forward to playing these songs as many places as I’m able.”
Listen to “Home” above. Below, find the Guitar cover art and tracklist, along with DeMarco’s upcoming tour dates.
08/29/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre * +
08/30/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre = +
08/31/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre + =
09/04/2025 — Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall =
09/05/2025 — Baltimore, MD @ The Lyric =
09/07/2025 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall = +
09/08/2025 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall + =
09/09/2025 — Boston, MA @ Roadrunner +
09/19/2025 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre * +
09/20/2025 — Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre = +
09/22/2025 — Forest Grove, OR @ Grand Lodge =
09/23/2025 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre =
09/24/2025 — Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre =
09/25/2025 — Olympia, WA @ Capitol Theater: Olympia Film Society =
09/27/2025 — Petaluma, CA @ The Phoenix Theater =
09/28/2025 — Petaluma, CA @ The Phoenix Theater *
09/29/2025 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl *
10/21/2025 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso =
10/22/2025 — Rotterdam, NL @ Maassilo =
10/25/2025 — Paris, FR @ Salle Pleyel =
10/27/2025 — Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Velky Sal =
10/28/2025 — Hamburg, DE @ Docks =
10/30/2025 — Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA =
10/31/2025 — Stockholm, SE @ Fallan =
11/01/2025 — Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene =
11/03/2025 — Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle =
11/04/2025 — Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk &
11/05/2025 — Brussels, BE @ Cirque Royal &
11/08/2025 — Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy &
11/09/2025 — Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome &
11/10/2025 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo = &
11/12/2025 — Cambridge, UK @ Corn Exchange &
11/13/2025 — Bristol, UK @ The Prospect Building &
11/14/2025 — Manchester, UK @ Aviva Studios &
11/15/2025 — Manchester, UK @ Aviva Studios &
11/17/2025 — Dublin, IE @ National Stadium &
11/18/2025 — Dublin, IE @ National Stadium &
12/02/2025 — Halifax, NS @ Light House &
12/03/2025 — Halifax, NS @ Light House &
12/04/2025 — Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar &
12/06/2025 — Québec City, QC @ Palais Montcalm &
12/07/2025 — Montreal, QC @ MTelus &
12/08/2025 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall &
12/09/2025 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall &
12/12/2025 — Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre *
12/13/2025 — Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre *
12/15/2025 — Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place *
12/16/2025 — Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium *
12/17/2025 — Calgary, AB @ Mac Hall *
12/19/2025 — Victoria, BC @ Royal Theatre *
02/16/2026 — Fukuoka, Japan @ DRUM Be-1
02/17/2026 — Osaka, Japan @ Umeda Club Quattro
02/19/2026 — Kyoto, Japan @ TakuTaku
02/20/2026 — Nagoya, Japan @ Nagoya Club Quattro
02/21/2026 — Tokyo, Japan @ Kanda Square Hall
03/06/2026 — Hong Kong @ Kitty Woo Stadium, Tung Po
05/01/2026 — Las Vegas, NV @ A-LOT at AREA15
05/02/2026 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
05/03/2026 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
05/05/2026 — La Vista, NE @ The Astro
05/06/2026 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
05/07/2026 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed (Fairgrounds)
05/08/2026 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
05/09/2026 — Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
05/11/2026 — Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05/12/2026 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
05/13/2026 — Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
05/16/2026 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
05/18/2026 — Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
05/19/2026 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
05/21/2026 — Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing
05/22/2026 — Tucson, AZ @ Linda Ronstadt Music Hall
05/23/2026 — San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay
* with Vicky Farewell
+ with Daryl Johns
= with Mock Media
& with Tex Crick
Guitar is out 8/22 via Mac’s Record Label. Find more information here.
Back in December, during an interview with Billboard, Tyler The Creator took issue with the recent proliferation of podcasts, which have seemingly taken over all of our favorite streaming services and social media feeds. At the time, he said, “If I was president, the first thing I would do is take podcast mics away from n****s.”
It’s a little over six months later, and it doesn’t appear his opinion has softened. In a new interview with The Cut about his latest Converse collab, he again vented about the number of podcasts giving platforms to faux experts.
“I think we give a lot of people who aren’t smart and just want attention platforms to be loud and incorrect, and other stupid people follow them,” he opined. “Where are the people with skills? We need electricians, we need more drummers, painters, teachers. Everybody with a mic is crazy. I just think that sh*t is gross.”
However, it doesn’t sound like he’s against every podcast, as he offered a couple of exceptions. “Deante Kyle (Grits & Eggs Podcast) is sick, and The Cutting Room Floor is sick,” he allowed. “Those are two podcasts that are in the right direction.”
Podcasts aren’t the target of Tyler’s curmudgeonly ire. In 2022, he criticized the NFT trend (and turned out to be correct, wouldn’t you know it), while last year, he lit into rappers more concerned with making memes than music, and slated interview shows that rely on gimmicks over insightful questions.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw a rare Cardi B sighting and Benson Boone having a little fun with his public image. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
We don’t get new Cardi B all that often: She’s had three solo singles since 2021. The third of those, though, arrived last week, and “Outside” sees her seemingly addressing the demise of her relationship with Offset.
Benson Boone — “Mr Electric Blue”
Yeah, people like to tease Boone sometimes, but he uses it to his advantage in his funny new “Mr Electric Blue” video. It’s a solid self-deprecating skit that sees Boone poking fun at his backflipping ways.
Ed Sheeran — “Drive”
Sheeran often has a guitar in his hand, but he’s not usually using it to make riff-heavy rock music. That’s what he did last week, though, switching lanes for his F1 movie soundtrack contribution “Drive.”
Lorde — “Hammer”
Here’s that “ode to city life and horniness” Lorde promised: On “Hammer,” she sings, “There’s a heat in the pavement, my mercury’s raising / Don’t know if it’s love or if it’s ovulation / When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The video’s worth the watch, too (there’s a butt tattoo involved).
Central Cee and Sexyy Red — “Guilt Trippin”
The latest from Central Cee and Sexyy is ready to deliver mellow summer vibes, and the “Guilt Trippin” hook is immediately catchy: “You ain’t a b*tch, but baby, you’re my b*tch / You ain’t a ho, but baby, you’re my ho.”
Teddy Swims and BigXthaPlug — “All Gas No Brakes”
Swims has clearly gotten over his early-career fear of writing original songs. Last week, he linked up with another rising star, BigXthaPlug, on the soulful new collab “All Gas No Brakes.”
Wednesday — “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”
After MJ Lenderman had a big solo 2024, the focus is back on Wednesday. The group announced Bleeds, a new album, last week, and good news if you loved Rat Saw God: They’re describing the upcoming LP as a “spiritual successor.”
Fred Again.., Skepta, and PlaqueBoyMax — “Victory Lap”
Fred isn’t afraid of leaning on a lengthy sample, and it tends to work out pretty well for him: On “Victory Lap,” a new link-up with Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax, the chorus uses a Doechii verse from her and Rico Nasty’s “Swamp B*tches.”
Lola Young — “Not Like That Anymore”
Young established herself as one of the UK’s hottest young breakout stars with her 2024 album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway and its hit single “Messy.” Now she’s readying to follow it up with the recently announced new album I’m Only F**king Myself, as well as “Not Like That Anymore,” the lyrics of which spawned the album title.
PinkPantheress — “Close To You”
PinkPantheress fans have known “Close To You” for years now, as it’s been known as a beloved demo since 2021. Finally, she unleashed it, first by performing it live for the first time and then by giving it a proper streaming release.
On behalf of my friends and neighbors, I’d like to pronounce Greet Death as honorary citizens of San Diego. Like countless childhood friends who came of age in the early 2000s, co-vocalists Logan Gaval and Harper Boyhtari initially bonded over Blink-182 and, to this day, their press materials ask listeners to “think of them as small-town Michigan’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus.”
By the time they were writing their first songs together in 2011, the duo were fully “surf-pilled”; Until now, I never once heard a contemporary musician describe Wavves as a life-altering band. Over the past three years, I’ve seen Greet Death twice at San Diego metal venue Brick By Brick, and each time, Gaval did the one thing most likely to win over the crowd, aside from covering “All The Small Things“: not only saying how much he loved playing in San Diego, but also, Los Angeles was a sh*thole full of frauds.
Gaval’s affinity for America’s Finest City wouldn’t be as noteworthy if it wasn’t such a flagrant break of character. He is in a band called Greet Death, signed to a label called Deathwish, Inc., touring projects called New Hell and New Low that might actually undersell the depressive mood therein. From their 2017 debut Dixieland, named for a flea market in their notoriously blighted hometown of Flint, Michigan, Greet Death have been a leading light in the wave of bands that have applied a doomgaze lens to the Rust Belt despair of Red House Painters and Jason Molina. Some of their more upbeat songs have titles like “Do You Feel Nothing?,” “You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done,” and “I Hate Everything.”
Greet Death’s third album is every bit as excellent as its predecessors and whether or not it’s the best, it’s undoubtedly the brightest. That’s all relative, of course — it’s still called Die In Love. Yet, the contrast embedded in the title betrays a very different experience than the total despondency of New Hell and New Low. Acoustic ballads are allowed to exist in a state of tender beauty without any piledriving riffs, optimism is portrayed as something that can be earned and owned rather than briefly on loan.
The songs of Die In Love themselves do not shy away from the brutal accounting of that process; Gaval’s grandmother passed away during the making of 2022’s New Low, while his girlfriend lost her grandmother and uncle. “Everybody struggles in a roundabout way,” he sings on the album’s very first lyric, a familiar sentiment of suffering that still feels new in its global application. Meanwhile, on “Emptiness Is Everywhere,” Boyhtari reflects on her father losing his oldest friend and coping with the certainty that the same thing will eventually happen to them.
Greet Death is more of a band than they’ve ever been — Die In Love is the first they’ve recorded as a five-piece, though they stuck to their roots by recording in the basement of Boyhtari’s childhood home in Davisburg, a town of 7,000 about a half hour from Flint. Still, the relationship between Gaval and Boyhtari remains the driving force of the band.
From the beginning, they’ve made for a striking contrast in nearly every way; the significantly taller Gaval sings in a deep drone, writes in a self-described “simpleton” style and functions as both the band’s comic relief and business brain. For unexplained reasons, he uses the Street Fighter boss Sagat as his Zoom background and at various points during our conversation, he dons his Amazon delivery jacket and a Voldemort mask and muses over a Nathan For You-like business venture to make harmonica holders for “people with freakishly long necks” like himself. Boyhtari is more reserved in conversation and more vivid in her lyricism, reaching a peak on lead single “Country Girl,” an odyssey of “small town sh*t” told through horror DVDs and late-night runs to KFC; She came out as trans after completing Die In Love and sees the evolution of “Country Girl” from its origin as a “boring, 3/4 plod” into its current state as a reflection of her own self-discovery.
Neither Gaval nor Boyhtari claim any special insight into the human condition simply because they happen to be in a successful rock band, though that doesn’t stop people from assuming they might. “I did an interview on Thursday and the guy asked me what the meaning of life was,” Gaval claims. “And I was like, ‘Dude, I’m a straight up idiot. I play guitar because it’s the only thing that I’ve ever applied myself to.’”
He soon clarifies that this perspective has allowed him not to overcomplicate things on Die In Love, to express not only the struggle of existence in the most simple terms, but also the struggle to be a good friend and a good partner. “There’s no way to say these things without sounding like a complete cornball, but it is imperative that you open yourself to the power of love and kindness and joy.”
It’s interesting to hear you talk about seeing all of the buzzy surf bands in 2010 as formative experiences. Back then, bands of that type really were blowing up overnight, getting courted by major labels, and playing festivals and late-night shows. There were absolutely downsides to those boom times, but do you ever wish, “Man, it would be nice if this whole thing would go faster?”
Gaval: The growth that we’ve experienced has always been very organic and step-by-step. And I’m grateful for that because it’s kept us really grounded. I remember when we were getting in talks with Deathwish, one of the things that we talked about [as a band] was, “All these people seem really reasonable.” I don’t think we’ve really been looking for some kind of blow-up scheme. But I do wish we could have played like some weird MTV2 YouTube exclusive, though. It’s funny that you brought up the Best Coast/Wavves power couple thing, because even if that were to happen now, there aren’t the media institutions to even write about it.
You were about to mention Hipster Runoff right now, aren’t you?
Gaval: If I was warmed up, I would have. Yeah, there’s no one who gives a f*ck about any of that stuff anymore, which is probably good, you know?
It was good in some ways, in that there were seemingly a lot more opportunities and money to go around, but a lot of the people involved weren’t really prepared to handle such sudden success. Conversely, when I talk to bands like Foxing, who you toured with recently, they have achieved an enviable level of success by most metrics, and yet they always seem on the verge of breaking up because doing music and touring full-time just gets more and more unsustainable. Especially having taken six years between LPs, was there ever that kind of conversation within Greet Death?
Gaval: I don’t really think about the music career on a month off from tour. I don’t think we’ve ever dove in face first, trying for a career in music is just mad busted. When I was very young, that was something that I definitely wanted. I wanted to make all my money from music and I wanted to always be gone and on tour. It’s nice to be able to travel the country for free and make a little bit of money on top of that. But I think to expect more than that is kind of weird and egomaniacal. “Spotify needs to be supporting these musicians, it’s not right.” It’s like, dude, who gives a f*ck about it? Your sh*t sucks. I don’t know who told you you could even make a dollar playing guitar. I think we’ve just done it because we love music and me and Harper are always trying to write the best song, you know? And it hasn’t happened yet, so I guess we gotta keep swinging.
Boyhtari: I mean, we were really hungry when we were young. We were ready to kill ourselves on the road, and we did that for a while. But we don’t put any pressure on ourselves to do this. And that doesn’t mean we’re not working a lot, because songwriting is just what Logan and I do. It’s just like, of course we’re going to do that. And it’s not like we’re on a label that puts pressure on us to make music. If we have to keep working menial jobs for the rest of our lives to make music, like, that’s fine. We’ve been doing that already. And I’m pretty happy.
If you don’t mind me asking, what do those jobs happen to be at the moment?
Boyhtari: I’m a cook in a kitchen. [Before that], I did phone rep stuff at a music retailer, which was pretty miserable.
Gaval: So I deliver packages for Amazon [interrupts conversation to put on his Amazon jacket]. It’s like my favorite job I’ve ever had, before that I worked in a warehouse. But the throughline of all of these is that they’re jobs that don’t mean anything. So I can send emails to the graphic designer or work on lyrical ideas on my phone. Since 2019, I’ve had jobs where I can f*ck off and work on Greet Death stuff on the clock. That doesn’t seem like a failure to me. I think maybe some people would think that it is. Seeing people trying to make the music thing work when it just clearly isn’t, we’ve never been desperate to do that. Even in the early years, our motives were like, “we want to drive really far away and play a sh*t ton of shows.” It wasn’t like we need to play or make this amount, because then our parents will think that we’re not failures. We’re very lucky that our parents never did that to us.
Still, being the front-facing people in a band means that, in some way, you’re bosses of a corporation that other people depend on for their livelihoods. How have you grown into those roles as Greet Death has become more established?
Gaval: I think everyone in the band is on the same page where they would do it for free even if there wasn’t any money, because like… what are we to do? Are we going to work in IT or sell health insurance? It’s been a fairly frictionless process because Greet Death is just a band made up of friends. I just text the business group chat and see what people want to do and then, 90 percent of the time, the answer is yes. If the answer is no, I’m not like, “Well, this is f*cked up.” I probably didn’t want to play that show anyways. But it is strange, because Greet Death, LLC is a thing, and I am filing the taxes late and paying astronomical fees.
Boyhtari: I will say that at the warehouse job Logan worked, he learned a lot of accounting skills and money skills. Logan’s turned into somebody who has really good management skills and you are the boss in a lot of senses. It’s helped us a lot. We would not be making nearly as much money as we are without Logan’s skills. Not that we’re making a lot of money, but I think we’re making a lot of money. Making any money playing music is crazy.
Gaval: We’re about to make a sh*t-ton.
Boyhtari: I don’t know how to make money, but I can be a good soldier and I can try to do what I’m told. And then Logan and I both write the songs. We’re good with the art side, but I think a lot of bands probably don’t have somebody with the skills and qualities that Logan does.
Gaval: Yeah, you need the autistic guy [laughs]. Every band. You need the Johnny Ramone, the Fat Mike, just zoned in. But if we didn’t have songs to sell people, it wouldn’t matter that I knew what a profit margin was or that I tried to negotiate to get t-shirt prices down. All this stuff is secondary and the main thing is that the art is good. I don’t like calling them that, but we do care about creating the songs as products, as things that are interesting to listen to. With that being said, I have read multiple cringeworthy business management books. If I told you the audiobooks I have listened to, nobody would f*ck with me ever again.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve read several Brene Brown books on leadership just to get a better sense of how my higher-ups think and maybe even imagine myself daring greatly as a leader.
Gaval: There’s a golden nugget in every pile of sh*t that is those self-help, money business, cognitive behavioral therapy books. You just have to be honest about what it is, that you are listening to an audiobook of “The Richest Man In Babylon” or “The Secret Of My Art” or whatever. There’s a lot I don’t know that I want to know, so I pay attention to stuff like that, it just frees up money for us to do cooler sh*t.
Well, since you mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy, are you ready to talk about depression? I’m thinking specifically of Feeling Great, which is this CBT handbook that describes depression and anxiety as “the greatest cons,” that they’re lies we tell ourselves. I’m curious about what you see as the roots of depression, whether it’s environmental, genetic or situational.
Gaval: As a disclaimer, I think I graduated with like a 2.6 and I’m not even smart enough to remember the name of the tests that they take in Michigan. I think it’s the ACT and, well, I got an 18 on that sh*t. So I’m not an intelligent person, but in my own experience, depression has been a constant struggle for as long as I can remember, and there are definitely days where it is influenced by thoughts that I’m acknowledging as truths. And then there are days where it feels like I straight-up have the flu, you know? And when I have the flu, I’m not trying to intellectualize it and think about why I have the flu. You need to edit what I’m saying so that I sound smarter, but in our society… or let’s not even say that… like, if you walk up to any band of four people, half of them are gonna be on SSRIs. And that’s fascinating to me because is that actually some sort of brain chemistry thing happening ,or is it because all media for the past few decades has been glorifying people like Kurt Cobain and it’s actually cool to be sad and nihilist and have a worldview that everything is f*cked and there’s nothing you can do so you might as well rock the f*ck out?
I think the only thing that ever helped me with all of that was to stop thinking about if it was a societal thing or a chemical thing and to let go of my thoughts and not acknowledge those as truths — impostor syndrome, whatever. These days it’s harder and harder to do that because you have groups of people that are constantly commenting that you’re like a fraud or that your sh*t sucks.
I do think a lot of artists struggle with how substance use or depression ties into their art, that they’re worried about what the music will become without it, or that they need to go deeper into it for the sake of the art. Were there ever more upbeat or happy songs that were set aside because they didn’t mesh with the greater Greet Death reputation?
Boyhtari: We’re writing some pretty optimistic stuff these days. If it’s something that resonates with us and sounds like Great Death, we’ll give it a shot. There is no mission statement where Great Death has to be depressing. It’s just that Logan and I have spent a lot of time being very unhappy people. Not to sound too dramatic, but art in general is a way to translate your feelings, you know, and a lot of times those feelings are, “How do you f*cking deal with this?” How is this something that people have to deal with? I don’t think we’re ever gonna stop grappling with the complexity of being a human being, when we have to live the way we do and life is monotonous. But I also think that we’re growing and learning to experience new things and there’s definitely the most joy in both of our lives that there ever has been.
Gaval: While the things that me and Harp write about are uncomfortable, at the end of the day, we are trying to create something that is beautiful. None of our songs are minor-key, swampy, spooky, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, I do want to create something beautiful, but I’d also hope that the message in the lyrics was honest.
I think there’s an optimism coming through even in songs titled “Emptiness Is Everywhere” and “Die In Love,” or at least an intention to appreciate the good things in life while they’re still around. What gives you reason to be optimistic these days?
Gaval: In my own battle with mental health and such, even on your worst days, you still have to be thankful that you’re here having an experience. There are still things that happen that are funny and that are worth celebrating. I don’t think you really have a chance of doing anything in this life if you don’t do that. Love is an interesting thing because if you talk to people that have been married for decades, they will tell you that love is not all good times. There are things that you will have to go through with your partner that are difficult and stressful, so how can you not draw some sort of inspiration from love? And how can you not make weird, ironic titles and juxtapose depressing lyrics with major-key chord progressions? It seems like a fitting topic for the style of music that we make.
I’ve been reading a book called Stream Big about the explosion of Twitch influencers, and the most interesting thing to me wasn’t just how a lot of their audience rely on them for some kind of mental health support, but that the streamers actually provide it, whether it’s just some words of encouragement. You’re almost like a mandated reporter in that position. Given the kind of music you make, are there fans who’ve come to you with similarly heavy stuff?
Gaval: Yeah, of course. When I was in a worse place with everything mentally, whenever people would come up to me and be like, “You know, your music has really helped me through a hard time,” my first thought was always, “Well, what about me?” Like, my music is ruining my life. It’s no wonder that I was so miserable, you know? I didn’t ask to be some weird parasocial therapist, but I am grateful for it and I think nowadays I’m willing to take on that task. If there’s a song I can write that will help someone for one moment, that’s probably the most important thing I could do with my life. Me and Harp constantly get people that come up to us and tell us their story about how, “Oh, I was feeling really bad and I was thinking about doing something crazy, but then I heard this album and I just felt seen.” I’ve had experiences like that. Sometimes you have the worst day ever and then you hear a song that, for a moment, gives you some sort of peace.
Boyhtari: My favorite kind of art, like, the art I care about, is the stuff that makes me feel less alone and seen, for lack of a better word. The music that’s done that for me has meant so much, and that’s the highest honor. And it’s already happened, so I already feel like we’ve won. Because like that’s an amazing position to be in and I’m just so grateful that we have been able to give that to people. I’m not saying it’s a substitute for therapy, but it is special.
Die In Love is out 6/27 via Deathwish. Find more information here.
Graham Tolbert/Adam Powell/Chase Middleton/Getty Image/Derrick Rossignol
Looking back on the last six months, it feels like 2025 might be remembered as a turning point for music in the 2020s. Every decade has a year like this, where you can see in real time one generation of musicians begin to retreat a bit from the mainstream as another group arrives to take their place. This year, several artists whose work I generally like put out records I thought were just okay, or worse. Meanwhile, I find myself being wowed by acts I have just discovered.
My mid-year list isn’t completely devoid of old favorites, but the majority are relative newcomers (or newcomers to me). This is an interesting development that might not continue in the back half of the year. Or it might suggest that we’re about to have a much better understanding of the overall story of music this decade. Either way, I can’t wait to find out. In the meantime, here are 23 albums from 2025, listed in alphabetical order, that I like a lot.
Alien Boy — You Wanna Fade?
It’s been a while (too long!) since 2021’s Don’t What Know What I Am, which made my best-of list that year. But these canny Portland power-poppers justified the wait with an even better record. While Alien Boy is often classified as emo, You Wanna Fade? shows that they’re really just a great pop-rock band with a stealth knack for melodramatic grandiosity. The melodies come fast and furious, but the moody guitar tones ground the music in a kind of magnetic melancholy, like Fountains Of Wayne if they sounded more like Disintegration.
Beauty Saloon — BS
A recurring theme of my 2025 favorites is a certain sound that once was described as alt-country and now gets slotted as indie Americana. Whatever you want to call it, lots of good bands are making that kind of music right now. Add this Chicago outfit to the list. On BS, they specialize in languid jams built from liquid-sounding guitars and a gently shambling rhythm section. It’s definitely more indie than Americana, or more Pavement than Drive-By Truckers. But it’s custom-made for the back patio nevertheless.
Bon Iver — SABLE, fABLE
The song titles are a tip-off. With a Bon Iver album, they can be a difficult proposition. Ever since 2016’s 22, A Million, the tracklist for a Justin Vernon LP reads more like a menacing letter from a Zodiac-inspired serial killer than a rundown of songs. But on SABLE, fABLE (the first Bon Iver album in six years, and the fifth overall), the song titles are shockingly comprehensible. Take the duet with Danielle Haim, “I’ll Be There.” Vernon titling a song “I’ll Be There” is like Frank Zappa naming one of his sons John Frederick Zappa. It’s a weird act of uncharacteristic normalcy. And yet it suits the track, an art-rock love song with churchy chords and bedroom-sultry vocals that sounds like Luther Vandross as produced by Godley & Creme or Peter Gabriel after an intense six-month Sade phase.
Caroline — Caroline 2
A member of this English post-rock octet once described their sound as “sadboy triumphalism,” a self-deprecating classification echoed on their latest album by naming a song “Coldplay Cover.” It’s not an actual Coldplay cover, mind you, though its strummy campfire vibe does sort of resemble a deconstructed, intellectualized redux of “Fix You.” I’ve been ambivalent about other British acts (your Geordie Greeps, your Black Country, New Roads) that mine a similar vein of brainy art rock that draws from ’90s emo and ’70s prog. I always admire their chutzpah, but their actual music frequently borders on annoying cleverness-for-the-sake-of-cleverness. Caroline 2, however, has some genuinely mind-blowing moments, starting with the first track “Total Euphoria,” where it sounds like every instrument is playing a different song. (When I listen to it on my laptop, I always get tricked into thinking that I have multiple songs playing on different tabs.) Then things align and explode, and I’m floored all over again.
The Convenience — Like Cartoon Vampires
My podcast co-host Ian Cohen sometimes talks about resisting bands that seem almost too well-suited to his tastes. It’s a natural critical impulse: Do I really like this thing, or do I like the things this thing is referencing? This thought crossed my mind after hearing The Convenience, a duo from New Orleans who essentially make straight-up “normal guy” indie rock in the vein of Spoon and Parquet Courts. But I didn’t dwell on it for too long. This kind of music always seems easier to make than it does, and the craft on Like Cartoon Vampires is just impossible to deny.
Jerry David DeCicca — Cardiac Country
I’ve been a fan of this Texas-based singer-songwriter since his time with The Black Swans back in the aughts. But DeCicca is on an extra-special roll lately, after 2023’s New Shadows — a pitch-perfect homage to boomer rock singer-songwriter records from the 1980s, a la Bob Dylan’s Infidels and Don Henley’s Building The Perfect Beast — and now this dutch-angle country effort. Unlike a lot of artists working in a similar “literate Americana” lane, DeCicca understands that the right vibe can take a good song and make it something greater. On Cardiac Country, he locks into a hyper-specific frequency I liken to watching an old episode of Austin City Limits from the ’90s on YouTube starring Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Joe Ely. If that description communicates something visceral to you, grip this album now.
Destroyer — Dan’s Boogie
This is the 14th album Dan Bejar has made as Destroyer. When you get to the 14th album in any discography, you’re hoping for something that sounds fresh and exciting while also delivering the unique qualities that kept you interested through the other 13 records. Dan’s Boogie does that. It feels like a new beginning after the previous three releases, which form a stylistically united trilogy. (Let’s call those dark, synth-infused LPs his ’80s Dylan period — which coming from me is a compliment.) Dan’s Boogie, meanwhile, retains some of the feel of that music while also reaching back to the live-band looseness of aughts-era albums like This Night and Rubies.
Craig Finn — Always Been
While he continues to tour with The Hold Steady, he’s been busier making Craig Finn records in the past dozen or so years. Always Been is his sixth solo effort, though it also represents an exciting departure. After years of fruitful collaboration with producer Josh Kaufman, who is based in New York’s Hudson Valley, Finn switched coasts and threw in his lot with Adam Granduciel, who recruited several of his bandmates from The War On Drugs to give Finn’s songs an unmistakable TWOD vibe. Craig Finn’s voice and songs plus music that sounds like The War On Drugs — the elevator pitch for Always Been is so simple that it almost seems too simplistic as a description. For an artist who has been compared to Springsteen semi-constantly for the past two decades, Always Been is the closest Finn has come to making an actual Springsteen record. Born In The U.S.A. and Tunnel Of Love, in particular, feel like obvious signposts.
Florry — Sounds Like…
The Philadelphia band Florry first came across my radar in 2023, upon the release of their third album, The Holey Bible. Led by singer-songwriter Francie Medosch, who started the project when she was a teenager, Florry is part of the same country-rock solar system that includes Wednesday and MJ Lenderman (whose 2022 LP Boat Songs was put out by Florry’s label, the rising indie Dear Life Records). What set The Holey Bible apart was its ragged, blown-out sound. It was more like a bootleg of studio jams than a normal “proper” album. Thankfully, while Sounds Like… is slightly less anarchic, is nowhere close to slick. The result is the rare indie-rock record from 2025 that actually rocks.
Bill Fox — Resonance
This reclusive cult hero from Ohio put out two perfect home-recorded albums in the late ’90s, and then mostly stayed off the grid. That is, until he unexpectedly re-emerged this year with his first album in 13 years. Unlike the unruly blasts of psychedelic pseudo-arena rock turned out by his peers in Guided By Voices, Fox plays songs with Dylanesque instrumentation (voice, guitar, harmonica) and a Beatlesque melodic sense. And his lyrics — often lovelorn, occasionally political, usually introspective, and always poetic in a plainspoken way — are far better-written and heartbreaking than they need to be.
Friendship — Caveman Wakes Up
Another band adjacent to the Wednesday/MJ Lenderman Cinematic Universe. (You might have seen the video of Friendship singer Dan Wriggens doing “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” with Lenderman earlier this year.) On Caveman Wakes Up, Wriggens plugs into the same wryly literate indie-country lane that David Berman pioneered in the ’90s, with stories of downbeat struggle rendered with wit and insight, courtesy of a barstool poet’s knowing eye.
Fust — Big Ugly
On record, the focal point of this North Carolina band is squarely on Aaron Dowdy’s songs, which marry hearty alt-country music with impressionistic lyrics infused with authentic small-town southern lore. He is especially fond of deploying regional slang that might be confounding to outsiders, starting with the album title (named after one of the record’s best songs), which refers to an unruly, unsightly creek. On stage, however, Fust has a communal band vibe that’s immediately inviting, starting with the interplay between Dowdy and singer/fiddle player Libby Rodenbough, and extending to the lively interjections of pianist (and long-time Dowdy collaborator) Frank Meadows. I implore you: Seek out this record and then see this band live.
S.G. Goodman — Planting By The Signs
Certain foundational artists go through cycles where they become fashionable namechecks for artists and critics alike. In the 2020s, one of those artists is the great Lucinda Williams, whose landmark 1998 album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road has been an essential text for a new generation of singer-songwriters. Thing is, though, many of these younger writers don’t sound much like Lucinda. S.G. Goodman is the exception. I loved her 2022 album Teeth Marks, which balanced personal revelations with barbed political commentary. Her latest is a very worthy sequel.
Horsegirl — Phonetics On And On
In the ’60s, a generation of rock bands dedicated themselves to studying and replicating blues music that was anywhere from 10 to 30 years old. In the 2020s, something similar is going on with current indie bands and the indie music of the ’90s. (In this scenario, Stephen Malkmus is Robert Johnson.) Horsegirl is a Chicago band whose members are all in their early 20s, and yet the music they make — wiry post-punk with lackadaisical but nonetheless catchy melodies — sounds nearly twice as old. Add in producer Cate Le Bon — whose dry, naturalistic sound is perfectly suited for this band — and you potentially have the finest 1992 album of 2025.
Hotline TNT — Raspberry Moon
On their 2023 breakthrough Cartwheel, Hotline TNT’s Will Anderson worked closely with co-producer Ian Teeple to create a furious, blown-out sound that nearly overwhelmed the melodies buried in the murk. On the new record, however, Hotline TNT worked more as an actual live unit, a byproduct of the constantly changing lineup finally solidifying during the Cartwheel tour cycle. Under the guiding hand of producer Amos Pitsch from DIY heroes Tenement – they recorded Raspberry Moon in Pitsch’s (and my) hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin — Anderson both streamlined and beefed-up Hotline TNT’s sound, sacrificing some of the gritty character of Cartwheel for extra anthemic power. You can hear it in the single (and one of the year’s best songs) “Julia’s War,” which has a “na na na” chorus I can imagine inspiring massive sing-alongs live.
Kyle M. — The Real Me
Former SNL cast member Kyle Mooney is a master at replicating the minutiae of awkward, poorly executed amateur media. On his anti-singer-songwriter album The Real Me, he applies the same careful eye to Bandcamp indie that he previously had to high school public access TV programs. Over rudimentary guitar picking and demo keyboard licks, Mooney talk-sings about about feeling like a cowboy instead of a cowman with a mix of ironic detachment and genuine middle-aged dread. What initially scans as a comic lark reveals itself over time — not that much time, it’s only a 19-minute record — as a set of weirdly catchy and spiritually unsettling songs.
Momma — Welcome To My Blue Sky
This Brooklyn-by-way-of-LA band suffers somewhat by virtue of doing something musically that a million other bands have attempted in the past several years. The reference points couldn’t be more obvious: Siamese Dream, Veruca Salt, Hole’s Celebrity Skin era, general shoegaziness. But Momma deserves extra credit for attempting all that and actually pulling it off. If you can allow yourself to be drawn in one more time by a music critic promising “MTV Buzz Bin rock but new,” I promise that you will find Welcome To My Blue Sky as fun as I do.
Panda Bear — Sinister Grift
The title of this album is somewhat misleading — there’s little about this otherwise warm and inviting record that reads as “sinister,” at least as it relates to Animal Collective and AnCo-adjacent music. Instead, Sinister Grift feels like a continuation of recent AnCo albums, which represent some of the poppiest and most accessible music of their career. I actually kind of miss the more sinister side of Panda Bear’s music, but I can’t really complain about that when I’m listening to this consistently lovely LP.
Jane Remover — Revengeseekerz
Now here is some serious sinister grift. If I had to use one world that describes my feelings about the state of the world in 2025, it would be “discomfort.” If I had to use two words, it would be “extreme discomfort.” I’m generally an optimist, but the possibility for technological apocalypse — among other looming forms of apocalypse — seems frighteningly real. And more than any other album, this frenetic and chaotic and internet-damaged and melted-brain future pop music captures that feeling than anything I can think of.
Bruce Springsteen — Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions
The best of the seven albums included in the massive Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set. It’s also the most infamous — for years, there was word of a record in the Boss’ vaults rooted in synthesizers and drum loops, derived from the style that won him an Academy Award in the mid-’90s for the song “Streets Of Philadelphia.” As a rumor, it seemed like a potential trainwreck. But now that the album is actually available, it suddenly seems like a shame that he didn’t make this creative pivot 30 years ago. As it stands, this is now the best LP that Bruce made in the ’90s, a period that once seemed fallow and now appears to have been creatively fertile for the rock icon.
Turnstile — Never Enough
If Glow On was about leveling up, Never Enough is concerned with maintaining this so-called hardcore band’s newfound status as one of the few “actually good” mainstream rock acts. Incredibly, Never Enough picks up the thread about as well as could be expected. If anything, this record sounds even bigger and dreamier than Glow On. (It was recorded at the same Laurel Canyon studio where the Red Hot Chili Peppers made BloodSugarSexMagik, so it comes by the ’90s alt-rock vibes honestly.) Given how miserable and colorless most of their peers are now — no other genre revels in performative dreariness like the lip-ring soul-patch merchants populating your local modern rock radio station — the sheer effervescence of Turnstile feels like a small miracle. And Never Enough shines like an 80-degree day after endless months of rain.
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Not to be that guy, but I saw Sharon Van Etten very early on in her career, way back in the late aughts, when she was a stand-alone folkie who often looked ill-at-ease on stage. So, it’s been doubly fascinating (and gratifying) to watch her evolve into a true-blue rock star over the course of 15 or so years. Her 2019 album Remind Me Tomorrow, where she discovered her inner Patti Smith, was a milestone in that regard. But her latest album, billed as a group effort with The Attachment Theory, confirms that transformation. Van Etten has always been a great singer, but something about these pounding synth-rock jams brings out an extra layer of swagger that seemed unimaginable back in those lonely club days.
Cameron Winter — Heavy Metal
This record dropped the same day as my year-end list for 2024, which of course at this point is just irrelevant trivia. A decade from now, when I look back on my favorite albums of that year, I suspect that Heavy Metal will be among the standouts. (I’m putting it on this list as a “better late than never” move.) Winter’s songs — grand, idiosyncratic, funny, disturbing, densely wordy, and deeply moving — have remained lodged in my cranium. It feels like a major statement by an emerging artist, and there’s also reason to think that he will never make an album like it ever again. But for now, it sounds new and fresh and feels ancient and profound.
Turnstile is definitely the kind of band that would have been on a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack had they been active when the original games were released. In fact, their music actually will appear in the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remastered next month. Ahead of that, though, the band and the skateboarding icon have made their collaborative debut thanks to Taco Bell.
In a new, skatepark-set ad for the Build Your Own Luxe Cravings Box that has started airing recently, Hawk is briefly featured, while Turnstile’s “Seein’ Stars” and “Birds” play in the background.
Meanwhile, Hawk recently discussed his original game soundtracks, saying, “It was fun because we weren’t under many regulations for that game. It had never been done before, so Activision gave us free reign to do whatever we wanted, so I definitely wanted to keep the culture alive in it and represent it well. So I just threw out bands that I heard growing up at the skate park, largely rooted in ’80s punk rock. It was like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Sex Pistols, Gang Of Four, Dead Kennedys, and I didn’t realize that that would be such an iconic part of the game as well, and people really identified with the music. I think it opened up people’s eyes to new bands and new genres.”
After heading up Hot97’s Summer Jam this past weekend, “Dunk” rapper Cash Cobain is hitting the road as the headliner of the 2025 Monster Energy Outbreak Tour. Titled the Party With Slizzy Tour, the live performance run will include 22 cities, starting in Cash’s native New York at Pier 17 and concluding at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut.
You can find ticketing info here. See below for tour dates and venues.
Cobain accompanied the announcement with a new video for his song “Sick n Tired” featuring OnlyHeaven, which you can watch above. The new track sees Cash incorporating New Orleans bounce into his sexy drill, a combination that blends the best of both worlds.
Cash Cobain 2025 Monster Energy Outbreak: Party With Slizzy Tour Dates
09/07 — New York, NY @ Pier 17
09/09 — Washington, DC @ Howard Theatre
09/10 — Norfolk, VA @ The NorVA
09/11 — Charlotte, NC @ Underground
09/12 — Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
09/14 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
09/15 — Dallas, TX @ The Echo
09/17 — Phoenix, AZ @ Walter Studios
09/18 — Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
09/19 — San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
09/20 — Las Vegas, NV @ Area 15
09/22 — Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
09/24 — San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
09/25 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades
09/28 — Denver, CO @ Cervantes Ballroom
09/30 — Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity
10/01 — Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
10/02 — Chicago, IL @ Avondale Music Hall
10/04 — Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
10/05 — Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Theatre
10/07 — Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
10/08 — Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/09 — New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
Getting extended applause at Cannes is a good sign for a movie, so Splitsville is off to a strong start ahead of its wide release: At the festival last month, the Dakota Johnson-starring movie enjoyed a six-minute ovation, as Variety notes.
The movie is the second from writer/director/producer/star Michael Angelo Covino, following his 2019 debut The Climb; His co-star, co-writer, and co-producer from that movie, Kyle Marvin, is back on board in the same roles for Splitsville, too.
As the film’s release nears, read on to learn everything you need to know about the movie before lining up at the theater.
Plot
The official logline reads:
“When Ashley (Arjona) asks for a divorce, the good-natured Carey (Marvin) runs to his friends, Julie (Johnson) and Paul (Covino), for support. Their secret to happiness is an open marriage; that is, until Carey crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.”
In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Covino explained, “The intention was very much not to make any kind of commentary on open relationships. I don’t have an agenda — Kyle and I don’t have a horse in this race. We’re not trying to make a statement about whether it works or doesn’t work. Everything we do starts from character. For us, it’s always about exploring these absurd situations. […] But I think, by nature, the inevitable conclusion of a story like this ends up being about some kind of acceptance — or at least reaching a point where you’re OK with things — because that’s kind of all we can do in life.
Cast
The cast is led by Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo, Nicholas Braun, David Castañeda, and O-T Fagbenle.
“We really lucked out, casting two incredible actresses [Johnson and Arjona] who are wildly funny, but each in a way that felt perfectly tailored to their characters. […] Everyone who came onto this movie understood the tone. No one was winking at the camera. They all understood the sandbox we were playing in — where every character believes their problem is the most important problem in the world, and they’re playing it with complete commitment. There’s nothing funnier than that to me.”
Release Date
The film is set to hit select theaters on August 22, followed by a wide release on September 5.
Trailer
Check out the Splitsville trailer below.
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