Laurel, Mississippi is home to a little over 18,000 people, more than 61% of whom are Black. On Tuesday, the town’s mayor, Johnny Magee, issued a historic executive order to remove the state’s flag from the City of Laurel government properties—a moment that moved him to tears.
In a state that once declared its official position as “thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world,” and listed as one of its reasons for joining the Confederacy the fact that the Union “advocates negro equality, socially and politically,” the removal of a symbol of the fight to enslave Black people is a big deal. But the history of slavery is just the beginning. Mississippi was the most segregated state in the country in 1964, a full hundred years after slavery was abolished. Racism has always been rooted deeply in the history and culture of the state—including the state flag, which includes the battle flag of the Confederacy in its upper left corner.
The weight of that long history was visible in Mayor Magee’s face as he tearfully sat for a full minute in front of the executive order to remove the flag. Instead of flying on government buildings in the town, the flags will be donated to the local library or other places that can keep them for posterity, according to the Laurel Leader-Call.
“Whereas through the ages, these banners have themselves grown to exemplify the traits that define the very fabric of the society they represent and have served as a means to unify, rally the spirit and passion of the citizens to one voice and purpose of the state, all of which demonstrates the significance given to these flag emblems,” Magee read, according to the Laurel Leader-Call. “And whereas the current flag hovering above the State Capitol of the state of Mississippi was adopted as the state flag by the Mississippi Legislature in 1894, and the upper-left portion of this flag is often referred to as the Confederate battle flag.”
Magee said the battle standard is a symbol of divisiveness and racial transgressions, “none of which represents the ideals and principles of our great nation, proud state and vibrant city.”
“There comes a point in time in the annals of history when it becomes necessary to redefine who a people are, and what a collection of these people represent,” Magee added. “It is the opinion of the mayor of this city that now is such a time.”
Indeed. Now is such a time.
Meredith Hagner knows what’s it’s like to kill a man… on TV. But when season three of her cult comedy Search Party lands on HBO Max this month, she’ll also know what it’s like to be put on trial for being an accessory to murder. After nearly three years, the TBS-housed series is finally holding its group of self-obsessed hipster murderers accountable for their actions… kind of.
Hagner plays Portia — a clueless soap actress, who comes to regret helping her friends stuff a dead body into a zebra-printed carryon in season three when she’s pulled into the media frenzy surrounding the case. Her reputation is ruined. Her friendships begin to crumble. Christianity comes for her. It’s all just a real mess. We chatted with Hagner, who will soon pop up in Andy Samberg’s upcoming Hulu romcom Palm Springs, about switching gears to a courtroom drama for season three of the show, her character’s mental breakdown, and the trick to playing a believable sex doll on screen.
It’s taken a couple of years, but season three is finally here.
I think it’s my favorite season so far. It just all gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
Every season has played with a different genre and this time, the group’s on trial. I’m a sucker for a good courtroom drama.
I’m with you. And this season is such a comment on our nation’s fascination with female villains. I know they were drawing some connections to the Amanda Knox case. I think we’re really fascinated by morality, especially in regard to women.
I think Dory, and even Portia to some degree, have it rough once this trial goes public but it’s interesting, I didn’t think of it in terms of gender before.
There’s deep misogyny. For Portia, her struggle is being like, “I will do anything to be perceived as a good girl.” She’s the product of this culture that taught her that’s what a good girl is and does. And I think even the juxtaposition of Dory [Alia Shawkat], what makes her good and bad simultaneously as a person, [is] as complex for Portia as it is everybody else. You’re like, how could a woman do this? And it’s like, well, a woman could be a sociopath.
Every character has had a meltdown in past seasons. Does Portia hit rock bottom this season?
I think Portia feels like she needs something to tell her that she’s good and redeemable. Her major motivation is love. I don’t feel like she feels worthy or good enough on some deep core level, which is how I think of her and how I play her. And so she overcompensates by being hyper-confident. When she’s been faced with being I’m part of this murder coverup, and then she has that relationship with Jay Duplass’ character — she just falls under people’s spells, she’s so good at giving people what they want while never looking at what she needs. And so for me, it’s just about playing that grey area, the psychology behind someone who’s only motivated by love and acceptance when they’re finding themselves villainized by society, right?
Her life is also put in danger by her newfound fame. There’s a hostage situation with a Twink that might be the funniest scene of the whole season. The comedy definitely gets darker this season. What’s it like filming those scenes?
That was a really hard day. This season was emotionally taxing. The stakes become so much higher. So for me, the humor becomes so much deeper and more twisted. That said, I loved singing at Elliott’s [John Early] wedding. That was one of my favorites because she’s just a narcissist with a heart of gold that chooses to see the world only through her lens.
Speaking of twisted humor, you’ve got a Quibi series with Anna Kendrick where you play a sex doll that’s come to life. It’s strangely genius.
I know! That’s a dream job. She’s like a nihilist sex doll. She represents the meanest voice we all have in our heads. We have this demon within all of us that we must, especially as women, shut down. I think how Anna’s character becomes friends with her, it’s just so complex and feminist and bizarre, and I’m so happy I got to be a part of it. I think it’s a wildly ahead of the curve feminine piece.
I guess the million-dollar question is: How do you play a sex doll?
I couldn’t move my body. I did every scene with Anna. It was the hardest job I’ve ever done. I couldn’t move any of my body, including my head. My whole performance was me doing every scene with her, with dots on my face. And if I moved at all, it ruined the take. It was the most challenging performance I’ve ever done, [but] I love that feeling of like, “Holy shit, am I going to be able to do this?”
That kind of weird, offbeat humor is definitely part of Search Party’s vibe, too. Is that something you’re drawn to, as an actor?
I am. I used to just do drama, I didn’t do comedy up until like six years ago. I started in improv many years ago, and then I wanted to be a serious actress. So I did Chekhov. I just thought comedy was less than. But a lot of the characters in comedy for women are these messy, complicated women. Ruth Gordon, for example, is an actress who I look at and I’m like, “I love her career.” And I’m getting this opportunity to play some of the same messy women. It’s so much more interesting to me than having to feel shackled by being likable all the time. So, I’m enjoying it.
‘Search Party’s third season lands over at HBO Max on June 25.
2020 has pretty much been a disaster so far. But in all of this darkness, one of the only guiding lights has been an especially stellar slate of new music releases. From debut albums from Hayley Williams and Dogleg to long-awaited new efforts from The Strokes and Tame Impala to Jeff Rosenstock’s poignant and political barnburner, incredible new indie music is one of the only things 2020 hasn’t been lacking in.
Over the last six months, there have been so many releases that it’s hard to keep track of everything. Luckily, we’re here to help you sift through all the noise with the 25 best indie albums of 2020 so far. If you’re wondering about methodology or think we missed something, make sure you check our list of the best albums and songs of the year so far before you yell at us.
25. Vundabar, Either Light
For their fourth studio album, the Boston band took two weeks to hunker down and make the best record they could, both from a performance and production standpoint. Brandon Hagen wrote the album while going through the entirety of The Sopranos twice, and you can hear it in his existential and nihilistic songwriting. Either Light features some of Hagen’s finest lyrics to date, with melodies that you will be hard-pressed to get out of your head.–Zac Gelfand
24. Higher Power — 27 Miles Underwater
On their major-label debut, UK punks Higher Power dialed back the hardcore tendencies of their previous releases and focused instead on the raw melodies and hooks that allowed bands like Alice In Chains and Deftones to transcend their scenes and make their way into the mainstream. “27 Miles Underwater proves that Higher Power have a unique range of versatility, which is not something that can be said for many bands with a firm footing in the world of hardcore punk.–Z.G.
23. Hayley Williams — Petals For Armor
We all thought we knew what to expect from Hayley Williams, but boy, were we wrong. Released in three parts, Williams debut solo album Petals For Armor mostly leaves behind her pop-punk history and instead digs into aspects of experimental art rock, R&B, and ’80s new wave. The resulting 15-song effort sounds like if Radiohead did a record with the Talking Heads with some help from Devo.–Z.G.
22. Jamie Wyatt — Neon Cross
For the mainstream music fan, there’s only a few country records a year that break into their listening habits, and in 2020 that record should be Jaime Wyatt’s Neon Cross. After overcoming the nightmare of drug addiction, and finally accepting her own queer identity and coming out, Wyatt has created the kind of album that won’t just comfort you — it’ll heal you, too.–Caitlin White
21. Margaret Glaspy — Devotion
Now that touring is how most musicians piece together a living, long tours can mean a long break between albums, and that explains the four-year gap between Margaret Glaspy’s 2016 record, Emotions And Math and this year’s Devotion. But all that time on the road just made Glaspy all the more crisp and all the more precise — Devotion is one of the cleanest, clearest, and most direct records I’ve heard all year.–C.W.
20. Ellis — Born Again
Some debuts hit you over the head, but Ellis’ first album impresses through more low-key, hypnotic gestures. Born Again succeeds through striking intimacy, with the rising Canadian songwriter dazzling with direct songwriting that often expands into grand gestures. It’s all distinctly comforting and familiar without treading into well-worn territory, the kind of first album that bodes well for an artist’s future.–Philip Cosores
19. Retirement Party — Runaway Dog
Retirement Party are at the top of their game throughout their sophomore album Runaway Dog. Across the LP’s ten songs, the Chicago trio shows off their exceptionally tight instrumentation and knack for weaving narrative arcs into their lyrics. The results are lyrics that give any listener more than enough meat to latch onto and fall in love with Retirement Party.–Z.G.
18. Wares — Survivial
One of the great “sleeper” albums of the first part of 2020 is Survival, the second album by Canadian singer-songwriter Cassia Hardy, aka Wares. A song cycle about her transition into a woman, Survival marries confessional lyrics with some of the year’s biggest sounding and most rousing rock music, evoking Against Me! and Titus Andronicus. It feels both personal and expansive at the same time.–Steven Hyden
17. Laura Marling — Song For Our Daughter
Song For Our Daughter feels both like a culmination of Laura Marling’s formidable catalogue up to this point, and also like something of a fresh start. On one hand, it retains that old-time early ’70s British folk feel, with lustrous acoustic strums playing off sumptuously recorded string sections in the manner of her best-regarded work. But at the same time, this feels like the least fussed-over of her albums, often sticking to first takes and vigorous, straight-forward arrangements.–S.H.
16. Empty Country — Empty Country
With Empty Country, former Cymbals Eat Guitars leader Joseph D’Agostino pared back his former band’s grandiosity and complicated song structures in favor of a highly stylized, alt-rock version of Americana, emphasizing sonic elements like Zena Kay’s pedal steel guitar to accentuate the anxious drama of his lyrics. The results are frequently stunning, like an early ’80s Springsteen record goosed with the extreme dynamics of prime-era Bright Eyes.–S.H.
15. Andy Shauf — The Neon Skyline
As scary as a concept album can seem on paper, Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf infuses his latest with enough breezy melodies and wry observations to make his project — an album spanning one single night where an ex returning to town causes an outpouring of memories and reflections — feeling infinitely more comforting than it is daunting. The Neon Skyline is a wise and transportive album, with Shauf taking his place among the great contemporary songwriters.–P.C.
14. Ratboys — Printer’s Devil
Ratboys’ third album is much thicker-sounding than anything the band have released to date. It’s also incredibly dynamic, with songs like “Anj,” which sounds like it could have been in an early-2000’s teen drama, paired with tracks like “I Go Out At Night,” a more reserved number. But all of the songs on Printer’s Devil share the same DNA, delivering epic hooks that stick around long after you turn it off.–Z.G.
13. Jeff Rosenstock — No Dream
When it comes to life-changing disasters, Jeff Rosenstock is like a musical first responder, always ready with inspirational jams whenever the world faces adversity. This year, the rousing punk rocker dropped a surprise album, No Dream, that supplies all of that “whoa-oh-oh!”-style live show energy that we’ve been craving lately, staring down these darkest times with appropriate fury and surprising, inspiring hope.–S.H.
12. Grimes — Miss Antropocene
Not everyone can successfully cultivate hype around an album while simultaneously working through their first and highly-publicized pregnancy. But then again, not everyone is Grimes. Her first record since 2015, Miss Anthropocene boasts the brooding synths that fans know and love. But Grimes also gets personal, grappling with real issues like losing a number of friends to addiction and detailing her grief through lyrics. This masterful combination ties together for a mature effort from the boundary-pushing artist.–Caroyln Droke
11. Tame Impala — The Slow Rush
Five years after the last Tame Impala record, The Slow Rush was worth the wait. Sonically, the album isn’t a far cry from 2015’s Currents, but has a more expansive feel, reveling in soundscapes and dissonant guitars. What makes The Slow Rush so engaging, though, is Kevin Parker’s knack for undeniable hooks that anchor the soundscapes and generate a unique flow that keeps you coming back for more.–Z.G.
10. The Strokes — The New Abnormal
On their first album since 2013’s Comeback Machine, The Strokes narrow in on what made those first two albums so special, while also swinging for the fences with more experimental synth-pop flourishes that veer closer to new-wave than garage rock. The New Abnormal also follows the sequencing formula of the band’s previous two albums, which Steven Hyden describes as, “four undeniable bangers, and five weird and bombastic sorta ballads in which Casablancas addresses his own profound Strokes disappointment in bizarre, fascinating ways.”–Z.G.
9. Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit — Reunions
Listening to Reunions, you can hear Jason Isbell write with as much elegance as he ever has. Two of the most affecting tracks, “Dreamsicle” and “Letting You Go,” are parental narratives in which the troubled boy in the first song becomes the anxious parent in the second. Other songs explore sobriety and wounded masculinity, pet topics that Isbell continues to explore with great insight and sensitivity.–S.H.
8. Dogleg — Melee
Dogleg’s Chase Macinski recently told Uproxx that the success and warm reception their debut album has received is “kind of unbelievable.” It makes sense, though: Punk is accessible to perform, but Dogleg do it particularly well, conveying personal themes on raucous and catchy songs like “Wartortle.”–Derrick Rossignol
7. Perfume Genius — Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
It’s been a decade since Perfume Genius emerged with the striking homespun piano ballads of Learning, and each successive album has felt less like a reinvention and more like natural growth. So, of course Set Yourself On Fire Immediately feels like the roots are deeper and the flowers more vibrant than ever before. Mike Hadreas still knows his way around a fragile melody, but he’s always best when at his most ambitious, be it the growling march of “Describe” or the expansive anthem “Nothing At All.”–P.C.
6. Soccer Mommy — Color Theory
After the massive critical acclaim of her debut Clean, many in Sophie Allison’s position might have faltered in the face of an invisible mass of anticipation. Allison does the exact opposite on Color Theory, which showcases a more confident and polished version of Soccer Mommy with an emphasis on the songwriting. The result is ten tracks that cement Allison as a star with a firm grasp on emotional and resonant lyricism.–Z.G.
5. Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher
Phoebe Bridgers has been in the collective conversation so consistently, it’s surprising to hear that Stranger In The Alps, our favorite indie album of the 2010s, already came out more than three years ago. Punisher is Bridgers’ sophomore offering, a record full of devastating imagery and candid songwriting that is supplemented by orchestral arrangements and experimental soundscapes. It is a document of a songwriter at the top of her game, living up to — and at times surpassing — the highs of her soaring debut.–Z.G.
4. Yves Tumor — Heaven To A Tortured Mind
On Yves Tumor’s most accessible album yet, the provocative artist doesn’t shy away from challenging listeners. Still, Tumor finds a sweet spot that pushes boundaries as much as their music explores new ways to package the familiar. In a time when heaven feels like a particularly foreign concept, beauty and ugliness find harmony on this incredible record, blurring lines until everything devolves into murky satisfaction.–P.C.
3. Yaeji — What We Drew
Although she already broke out in a big way with a pair of 2017 EPs, on her first formal full-length release, What We Drew, Korean-American producer Yaeji planted a flag for her glimmering, bilingual take on pop and hip-hop. Released right as the bulk of America began to bunker down inside, this moody 12-song set draws on predecessors like Grimes and Janet Jackson while remaining firmly original.–C.W.
2. Waxahatchee — Saint Cloud
Saint Cloud isn’t Katie Crutchfield’s first great album as Waxahatchee — her first couple, American Weekend and especially Cerulean Salt, are both essential listens — but it is without a doubt her best. Created after getting sober, the record expounds on dependence while also embracing her Southern roots like never before. From her stunning vocal performances to reflective, resonating lyrics, Saint Cloud feels like a second life for the Waxahatchee project, where possibilities seem endless thanks to newfound clarity.–P.C.
1. Fiona Apple — Fetch The Bolt Cutters
After an eight-year hiatus, Fiona Apple is back with a vengeance, once again wielding her lyrics like a sharpened pair of shears that spare no man — or woman, for that matter. Fetch The Bolt Cutters is brilliant for a lot of reasons: the easy, tangled piano melodies that sometimes feel downright messy but never stray off topic, the peckish analysis of past relationships, and most of all, the strong, overwhelming sense that sometimes that the only way to get free from a prison of your own making is to blow everything up and start again. This new beginning couldn’t be more bold, and her self-assurance is like a jolt of unrelenting light in an otherwise gloomy year.–C.W.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
America is months into the coronavirus pandemic, and yet Wednesday proved a grim one, with new daily cases reaching its second highest mark yet, with over 35,000 confirmed. About a fifth of those were in California. That state had recently begun opening up some of its businesses, including movie theaters, and over the last few days it’s seen a spike in new cases. Now comes word that Disneyland, which had once been confident about returning, won’t be making its planned July 17 re-opening after all.
This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which revealed that the Anaheim theme park — Disney’s original, lovingly overseen by Walt Disney himself 65 summers ago — would not be receiving the state clearance it needs to reopen its doors. The same goes for Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, which had also planned to open back up.
“Given the time required for us to bring thousands of cast members back to work and restart our business, we have no choice but to delay the reopening of our theme parks and resort hotels until we receive approval from government officials,” the company announced in a statement. “Once we have a clearer understanding of when guidelines will be released, we expect to be able to communicate a reopening date.”
That said, there is one Disney space that will open as planned: Downtown Disney, the shopping and dining district that’s part of the Disneyland Resort, will still be open to the public on July 9.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, have both been closed since mid-March. Like California, Florida has recently seen a spike in new coronavirus cases, which evidently hasn’t sufficiently frightened some of its population. There is currently no new date for Disneyland’s reopening.
(Via THR)