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FKA TWIGS RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE ‘CELLOPHANE’
FKA twigs today returns with her first new music in over three years.
Written and produced by FKA twigs with Jeff Kleinman and Michael Uzowuru, ‘Cellophane’ is twigs’ most vulnerable song to date and is an enticing first glimpse of what to expect from her second album; the follow up to her Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominated 2014 debut, LP1.
Talking about the process, FKA twigs says: “throughout my life I’ve practised my way to being the best I could be, it didn’t work this time. I had to tear down every process I’d ever relied on. go deeper. rebuild. start again”
‘Cellophane’ is accompanied by a video directed by Andrew Thomas Huang. The video is a powerful visual contrast to the vulnerability of the song’s lyrics (“Didn’t I do it for you? Why don’t I do It for you?”) and stars FKA twigs in a role that she trained for months in advance for, adding another facet to her enviable multi-disciplinary skill set.
In FKA twigs own words: “when I wrote cellophane over a year ago a visual narrative came to me immediately, I knew I had to learn how to pole-dance to bring it to life, and so that’s what I did. thank you andrewthomashuang, for elevating my vision beyond words. you are a visionary. kellyvon thank you for being with me every step of the way on my precious pole yellow brick road. working with you both on this is a dream come true.”
Meanwhile, FKA twigs is set to perform live around the world over the summer. In addition to global festival appearances, the run of dates includes two sold out headline shows at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, which will see twigs performing in New York for the first time since dazzling audiences with her Congregata show in 2015. She also recently hinted at further live dates – for more information fans can sign up here
TUNE-YARDS RELEASES THE ORIGINAL FILM SCORE FOR BOOTS RILEY’S SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Tune-Yards, the duo of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, releases the original score for Boots Riley’s acclaimed 2018 film Sorry To Bother You starring Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson.
Tune-Yards score for the surrealist social satire film has been praised by Billboard as “a simultaneously erratic and ecstatic medley of instruments and vocal layering.”
Director Boots Riley described the score as “the film’s musical voice” and explains the difference between the score and the soundtrack by The Coup: “The characters can’t hear [the score]; the soundtrack, the characters can [hear].”
The score also includes dialogue samples from the film and four bonus tracks never before heard in the film. The bonus tracks include features from up and coming Oakland artists including Chhoti Maa as well as Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truthspeaker.
Merrill Garbus explains why the character Detroit was an inspiration for the score:
“When I first read the screenplay for “Sorry to Bother You,” I felt like the character of Detroit deserved celebrating through music. In many ways she’s the revolutionary spirit of the movie, though her partner Cassius is the lead character. (Maybe Boots will write a Detroit-centered spinoff someday…) Some of my favorite music from the score, which became a musical theme throughout the film, was written for the scene where we meet Detroit for the first time, twirling her “SIGNS” sign and getting paid so she could get to her true work: creating radical art, and running toward revolution.”
Tune-Yards highly acclaimed album I can feel you creep into my private life was released early last year. The New York Times called it “a sleek, radical evolution” and NPR Music said it’s “Tune-Yards’ most sophisticated album to date.”
PIXX Shares New Single ‘Bitch’ + Video
Pixx has released a new single, ‘Bitch’ from her forthcoming album, Small Mercies (out 7 June).
Swaggering and vicious, Hannah Rodgers explains the background of the song:
I wrote this song in the cellar of my flat in South London; it happened very quickly. At the time I was feeling pent up and frustrated with myself and others. I was in the middle of reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, finding it hard to digest and communicate. That’s why this song means a lot to me; it’s about accepting and forgiving yourself for struggling; not being too hard on yourself for getting stuck in your head, and finding the relief in waking up and getting out of your hole to show the world you’re a strong bitch.
The companion video, directed by Edie Lawrence and starring Rodgers, is gleefully childish.
ICEAGE RELEASE NEW VIDEO FEATURING SKY FERREIRA FOR "PAIN KILLER"
Marking the start of their North American tour, Iceage have released a new video for “Pain Killer” featuring Sky Ferreira, one of the standout tracks from their critically acclaimed fourth album Beyondless.
The video takes visual cues from Wild At Heart, Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas, and the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage. Hallucinogenic epiphanies filmed between Tijuana, San Diego and LA are interspersed throughout with 70s pulp animation. Sky Ferreira makes a cameo, appearing in VHS footage shot in the garage of Instagram celebrity and Fiona Apple collaborator, Lili Hayes.
Directed by Mortis Studio with additional animation from Josh Freydkis and featuring lead actors Linda Abud & Sebastian Alvarez, the video for “Pain Killer” truly has it all, and is a potent chaser to the visceral and intoxicating potion of the audio.
Iceage’s North American run of dates in support Beyondless, including appearances at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, kicks off Friday, April 12th in Las Vegas with Shame and Nadah El Shazly supporting on select dates.
The band covers Western Canada with shows in Victoria (April 27th), Vancouver (April 28th), Calgary (April 30th), Saskatoon (May 1st), Edmonton (May 2nd) and Winnipeg (May 4th).
WATCH ALDOUS HARDING’S DRAMATIC, ENIGMATIC JODOROWSKY-ESQUE VIDEO FOR NEW SONG ‘FIXTURE PICTURE’
Aldous Harding shares a new song and video for ‘Fixture Picture’ from her forthcoming third album Designer, out April 26.
Co-directed by Aldous Harding and Jack Whiteley, the video’s suspenseful opening scene finds Harding strumming her guitar on the white cliffs of Dover. The pay-off comes later with a dramatic and enigmatic live performance by Harding and her band inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky.
‘Fixture Picture’ follows first album single The Barrel and its delightfully off-kilter accompanying video, the latter described as “uplifting and beautifully arranged,” by MOJO, with the Guardian saying “her spell remains strong.”
Aldous Harding’s third album, Designer is released on 26th April and finds the New Zealander hitting her creative stride. After the sleeper success of Party (internationally lauded and crowned Rough Trade Shop’s Album of 2017), Harding came off a 200-date tour last summer and went straight into the studio with a collection of songs written on the road. Reuniting with John Parish, producer of Party, Harding spent 15 days recording and 10 days mixing at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth and Bristol’s J&J Studio and Playpen. From the bold strokes of opening track ‘Fixture Picture’, there is an overriding sense of an artist confident in their work, with contributions from Huw Evans (H. Hawkline), Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo), drummer Gwion Llewelyn and violinist Clare Mactaggart broadening and complimenting Harding’s rich and timeless songwriting.
Joined by a new 4-piece band, Aldous Harding began a string of US dates with a SOLD OUT show in NYC on Monday night. Brooklyn Vegan called the performance “flat out amazing”, adding “there was a clear connection between her and the audience, who were pin-drop quiet and hung on every note.”
