Marilyn Manson has released highly anticipated eleventh studio album WE ARE CHAOS out today via Loma Vista Recordings.
Produced by GRAMMY® Award winner Shooter Jennings [Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker] and Manson, the ten-track opus was written, recorded, and finished before a pandemic blanketed us all.
Manson’s painting, Infinite Darkness, which can be seen on the album cover, was specifically created to accompany the music. His fine art paintings continue to be shown all over the world, including gallery and museum exhibitions from Miami to Vienna to Moscow.
Manson says of the album, “When I listen to WE ARE CHAOS now, it seems like just yesterday or as if the world repeated itself, as it always does, making the title track and the stories seem as if we wrote them today. This was recorded to its completion without anyone hearing it until it was finished. There is most definitely a side A and side B in the traditional sense. But just like an LP, it is a flat circle and it’s up to the listener to put the last piece of the puzzle into the picture of songs.
“This concept album is the mirror Shooter and I built for the listener – it’s the one we won’t stare into. There are so many rooms, closets, safes and drawers. But in the soul or your museum of memories, the worst are always the mirrors. Shards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics.
“Making this record, I had to think to myself: ‘Tame your crazy, stitch your suit. And try to pretend that you are not an animal’ but I knew that mankind is the worst of them all. Making mercy is like making murder. Tears are the human body’s largest export.”
K
In keeping with the joyful tone of the album – and the circus theme of the official video for the title track “Smile” – she is introducing a new game tomorrow: Katy’s Quest. Developed by Double A Labs and Alienware and curated by Mathew Cullen, who directed the “Smile” video, it takes players on a fun, fast-paced romp through a Circus of Misconceptions. The two-level video game, accessible via web browser, will launch tomorrow with a weekend-long kick-off event on Twitch that will benefit MusiCares and Extra Life.
Last week, Katy set a new record when her single “Firework” was certified 12x Platinum, marking the highest certified track by a lead female artist in RIAA history. The song was one of five singles from the 8x Platinum album Teenage Dream, which was released 10 years ago.
In the lead-up to the release of Smile, Katy shared several songs from the album, including the title track plus “Daisies,” the Gold-certified “Never Really Over,” “What Makes A Woman” and “Harleys In Hawaii.”.
The Los Angeles Times hailed Smile as “still quintessentially Perry: buoyant, playful, neon pop” in a recent Sunday Calendar cover story. Rolling Stone said, “Katy Perry gets back to basics” with Smile and, praising the title track, noted, “Over an upbeat, dance-driven groove to match the positive vibes of the lyrics, Perry extols the virtue of perseverance.” US Weekly said, “‘Only Love’ is a stunning, finger-snapping midtempo about moving on from mistakes.” USA Today observed, “Perry’s newfound joy and contentment come through on much of ‘Smile,’ which contains some of her catchiest and most carefree songs since 2013’s ‘Prism.’” RIFF Magazine declared, “Smile is the album that meets the moment of the age we live in. A fitting celebration of strength, pain and individuality under dire circumstances.”
About Katy Perry
Since Katy Perry’s EMI Music Australia debut in 2008 with One of the Boys, she has racked up a cumulative 45 billion streams alongside worldwide sales of over 45 million adjusted albums and 135 million tracks with her albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, PRISM, and Witness, and her latest singles, gold-certified “Never Really Over,” “Small Talk,” and “Harleys In Hawaii.” Katy was the first female artist to have four videos surpass a billion views each. Her videos for “Firework” and “Last Friday Night” have over one billion views, while “Roar” and “Dark Horse” have surpassed the two billion mark. Katy’s 2015 Super Bowl performance is the highest-rated in the event’s history. She is one of only five artists in history to have topped 100 million certified units with their digital singles – and the first-ever Capitol Records recording artist to join the elite RIAA 100 Million Certified Songs club.
Aside from being one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, Katy is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes. In 2013, Katy was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador as a result of her commitment to improving the lives of children worldwide. From traveling to Vietnam and Madagascar to highlight the needs of some of the world’s most vulnerable children, to recording PSAs about the importance of empowering girls and supporting adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, as well as raising awareness for UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts, Katy has used her powerful voice to advocate for children and support UNICEF’s mission to ensure every child’s right to health, education, equality, and protection. She was awarded with the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award in 2016.
Exciting Melbourne newcomer Kinkora has today announced her debut single Set Me Free, a glittery, RnB inspired pop banger out August 28. Accompanying the track is a highly entertaining music video, which sees a flash mob hijack a series of Zoom conversations – and the participants’ surprised reaction are hilarious.
For fans of Kira Puru, Thandi Phoenix and SZA, Kinkora’s Set Me Free is an upbeat, hooky track with a bouncing soulful melody and rich harmonies. Kinkora’s powerhouse vocals shine amongst production elements of disco, soul, RnB and pop with layers of driving bass and percussion, synths and reverberant guitars.
Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Kinkora explains “Set Me Free is about being in a relationship with someone that you know isn’t good for you, but feeling trapped and unable to find a way out. It’s about that toxic, helpless kind of love that keeps pulling you back in. Whilst I wrote the song over a year ago, the release has coincided with the current shared experience we have of feeling confined – so I think everyone will be able to relate to the general sentiment of wanting to be set free in some way!”
Conceived from Melbourne’s lockdown, the clip for Set Me Free reflects the feeling of being trapped, capturing a Zoom call in lieu of filming a video, as Zoom has become a symbol of confinement and isolation through the pandemic. Wanting to infuse some joy into the situation, Kinkora decided to put together a surprise flash mob.
“It was a massive project to coordinate. Each of the dancers learnt the dance via video and we had one run through on Zoom. On the day of the flash mob we used a Whatsapp group to send cues such as “Go Group 1”, “Go Group 2” etc to notify the dancers to enter the zoom call at the right moment – the whole thing was done completely live. It was chaotic but absolutely hilarious.”
Kinkora is the new project of Melbourne based artist Elise Kausman. Elise has previously had her music added to rotation on national radio, performed internationally at the Jersey Shore Festival (New Jersey), Launch Music Festival and Conference (Pennsylvania) and Earth Day Festival (New York), and New York’s iconic Rockwood Music Hall. Locally, she has performed with Sunshine and The Disco Faith Choir at Wine Machine (alongside The Presets, Hayden James, Hot Dub Time Machine), opened for American RnB artist Lloyd and performed at the Chapel Summer Sessions.
As a songwriter, Elise has been a finalist for Eurovision: Australia Decides 2020, a finalist in the Unsigned Only Competition among other international songwriting awards.
Debuting as Kinkora for the first time in 2020, Elise will be releasing a number of singles through the remainder of the year and into 2021. Watch this space.
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Return With Two New Tracks, Cyr & The Colour Of Love
Band Confirm New Album Is On The Way via Sumerian Records
Plus, Performance Video Of ‘Cyr’ Revealed Today
Featuring Founding Members Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin,
with Guitarist Jeff Schroeder
GRAMMY® Award-winning, critically-acclaimed alternative rock luminaries, The Smashing Pumpkins return with two new tracks, Cyr’ and ‘The Colour Of Love,’ out on
Sumerian Records today!
Recorded in Chicago and produced by Corgan, the new tracks come with the news of a forthcoming studio album in the works with founding members Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, with longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
“Cyr is dystopic folly,” front-man Billy Corgan reveals, “one soul against the world sort of stuff, set against a backdrop of shifting loyalties and sped up time. To me it stands as both hopeful and dismissive of what is and isn’t possible with faith.”
The band also revealed a very special official performance video of ‘Cyr,’ directed by Linda Strawberry, the video was shot remotely, during lockdown in Chicago and Los Angeles. “This is a goth fever dream of pent up emotion – an artistic visual release attempting to create a momentary escape from the emotional black cloud hanging over all of us this year.” Director, Linda Strawberry explains. “A dark seduction filmed in quarantine at a social distance” An undeniable and welcomed reminder as to why one of America’s most influential alternative bands continue to sell out arenas and garner praise worldwide.
The new songs ‘Cyr’ and ‘The Colour of Love’ follow the band’s 2018 Rick Rubin-produced full-length Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / Lp: No Past. No Future. No Sun And headlining tours that sold in excess of over 350,000 tickets across North America, selling out arenas including The Forum, United Center, Madison Square Garden and more. Also, the band’s first tours in nearly two decades to feature Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha, alongside Schroeder, they received rave reviews from critics, noting the tour as “a massive gift to their fans” (Uproxx), “a welcome reminder of why those early albums resonated in the first place” (SPIN), and “an unforgettably rewarding and often spectacular odyssey” (Forbes).
Formed in Chicago, IL in 1988, The Smashing Pumpkins released their heralded debut album Gish in 1991 and found mainstream success with 1993’s 4x multi-platinum Siamese Dream and 1995’s 10x multi-platinum Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The band has released seven additional studio albums; Adore, Machina/The Machines of God, Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music, Zeitgeist, Oceania, Monuments to an Elegy and their last full-length, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol 1 / LP: No Past, No Future, No Sun. With over 30 million physical albums sold, the multiple GRAMMY®, MTV VMA, and American Music Award winning band remains an undeniable force in alternative rock.
Having recently signed to Sumerian Records, CEO and founder Ash Avildsen reveals “The Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most influential, iconic and timeless bands of all time. They’ve played a huge part in my life and I can say the same for so many others in the Sumerian family. This a colossal moment for the label but most importantly, it’s the dawn of a new decade of Smashing Pumpkins music.”
Album details to be revealed soon.
‘Cyr’ and ‘The Colour Of Love’ is out everywhere now.
Follow The Smashing Pumpkins
Web | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Noah is the singer and guitarist in Newcastle’s dave the band. They are from Newcastle, Australia and play high voltage yoch n roll. Their debut album ‘Slob Stories’ was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini and is out 28 August!
1. Berocca – I really wish I could afford to have one every day.
2. Gooey caramel chunky kit-kat – don’t even try to give me a regular kit-kat.
3. Balter XPA – we’ve been known to be partial to this beer, sometimes it goes down a little too easy (sorry to The Espy in St Kilda).
4. Chicken crimpy shapes – it’s the ultimate shape variety because it’s the only one that you call by its flavour and you don’t have to say “shapes” for people to know what you mean.
5. Gin – for Gabe, our drummer.
6. Saladas, peanut butter, foil and an oven – also for Gabe, though I don’t know what he does with them.
7. Tooheys Old – for Max, our bass player. Personally, I find dark beer gross but Max is really into it ATM.
8. A soundguy who puts enough vocals in my foldback.
9. A soundguy who doesn’t yell at me for bringing my own mic.
10. A soundguy who isn’t a cranky old bastard.
dave the band have launched a ‘Which Dave Are You?’ Instagram filter which you can find here:
The list of famous daves in the filter are:
Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters
Dave Le’aupeppe from Gang of Youths
Dave McCormack from Custard
Dave Brubeck
Dave.
Grammy-nominated band I Prevail have shared the impactful and topical video for their new single “Every Time You Leave,” which is currently ascending the rock radio charts and sits at No. 17. Watch it here!
“Every Time You Leave” is I Prevail unlike you’ve ever heard them. The track demonstrates the band’s songwriting prowess and shows a more contemplative side of their musical style. The video takes a close, hard, and unsettling look at the difficulties and traumas faced by the people and the families who are on the front lines of both sides of war.
Previously, I Prevail shared an intimate performance video of the song, which was recorded during quarantine. The song and video feature Juno-nominated Canadian vocalist Delaney Jane, showcasing the rich element of male-female vocal interplay that highlights the rawness of the heartfelt lyrics. Watch the stripped down and quietly powerful performance here.
I Prevail continue to defy the odds. The band has generated well over 300 million U.S. streams on last year’s sophomore blockbuster ‘Trauma’. The group also received nominations for two GRAMMY Awards in 2020 — in the categories of “Best Rock Album” for Trauma and for “Best Metal Performance” for the single “Bow Down.”
I Prevail and their accomplishments were lauded by mainstream press, including Variety, NPR, Psychology Today and SPIN.
The band’s previous single “Hurricane” landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Rock Chart. It marked the first chart-topping single of the band’s career. I Prevail also shared “Feel Something,” a track with EDM artist Illenium. Listen and “feel something” here.
I Prevail have also managed to forge a direct and immediate connection with fans through their music. They took a mental health breakdown and turned it into a powerful body of work. Their numbers—north of 200 million streams and 100 million views and a Top 15 debut on the Billboard Top 200 — are why the band has ascended to the uppermost echelon of the rock genre.
FIRST EXCLUSIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘LIE TO ME’ ON YOUTUBE WED AUGUST 26th at 7PM
PICKED UP BY REPUBLIC USA
VERA BLUE
NEW SINGLE ‘LIE TO ME’
FIRST EXCLUSIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘LIE TO ME’ ON YOUTUBE WED AUGUST 26th at 7PM
PICKED UP BY REPUBLIC US
Following the smash hit ‘Rushing Back’ with Flume, Vera Blue delivers us the next exhilarating chapter with the release of her new single ‘Lie To Me’ and news she has signed with Republic Records for the USA, confirming once again the global appeal of the electro pop powerhouse.
Unable to tour due to COVID-19 restrictions, Vera Blue’s first exclusive performance of ‘Lie To Me’ will be for YouTube Music Sessions, in partnership with ARIA, on Wednesday August 26th at 7pm AEST.
If the tracks on the Australian sensation’s debut album Perennial were written in the ashes of a devastating break up, then ‘Lie To Me’ is Celia Pavey losing her mind at the other end of the romantic spectrum – falling IN love. ‘Lie To Me’ is anchored to a pulsating, tropical beat, (and a shrewd hybrid of live and electronic drums); interweaving a scattering of ominous sounding vocal samples and synths. It’s a summery dance hit – with extra layers of sonic tension.
“Would you lie to me? If I lie, would you lie? Say goodbye to me”?
Intriguingly, Vera Blue is not directing these lyrical questions at the object of her affection – but at the warring voices in her own head: some validating and amplifying her panic and jealousy, the others imploring her to take hold and not destroy a good thing.
“When you go through a lot of emotional shit, you can’t imagine yourself in a new relationship. Then you suddenly fall into one, and the fear and mistrust can be overwhelming: ‘is this as amazing as it seems – or is it going to blow up in my face again’”!
The song has been brought to life with Vera Blue’s producing/co-writing team of Andy and Thom Mak and engineer Jackson Barclay.
Says Vera Blue, “The lyrics and melodies that I wrote with Thom came from a more poetic and obscure experimental place for both of us. With Andy digging into new exciting sonic landscapes imitating the raw emotion and Jackson bringing the tones to life tracking various instruments through the amazing sounding console and outboard gear at the grove studios. This song had us all wide eyed and buzzing.”
For ‘Lie To Me’, Vera Blue’s extraordinary vocals are at capacity which she credits to three years of relentless live performing and projecting her voice over festival crowds. As well as her sell out headline shows she has played Splendour in the Grass and Lollapalooza both as a solo artist and as part of a world tour with Flume.
“I recently watched some vision of myself when I first started performing – my voice was so sweet and innocent! I could not have reached the belting moments at the end of ‘Lie To Me’ back then. My voice is stronger than it ever has been which enhances what we create in the studio”.
YouTube Music Sessions, in partnership with ARIA
Recorded at Studios 301
Vera Blue will perform 2 songs ‘Regular Touch’ & ‘Lie To Me’
Distinguished Australian pop RnB icon Clairy Browne returns in 2020 armed with a brand new single, Not The Only, available digitally via Believe August 21, 2020.
An entrancing track that seduces listeners into her twisted pop universe swathed in glamour, Not The Only, is a celebration of raw artistic fluidity, a headfirst dive into neon-drenched sunsets and vodka-soaked mornings, dusty panoramas and mirror-balled dancefloors, with dirt and grime caked beneath acrylic fingernails.
Co-written by Browne and KING Ellenoir in Los Angeles and produced by Andrew Furze, Not The Only pares back on extravagant production to reveal a dazzling pop jewel that pulses with anthemic hooks, infectious vocal swells and a startlingly dystopian resonance.
Pulling listeners into Browne’s subversive musical cosmos – an ether devoid of heteronormativity, where queerness is celebrated in all its forms – Not The Only signals a new chapter for the accomplished artist, and a track that cements Browne’s beguiling transition from the kitsch retro pop of her previous efforts to enthralling RNB pop sensation.
A global force recognised for her astounding versatility and prestigious collaborations, audiences may recognise Browne through her recent work with RuPaul on the title track of his last album, or from astonishing audiences all over the USA, Europe, Japan, NZ and Australia with her powerhouse vocals and sublime stage presence.
Not The Only tosses any pre-conceived notions you had of Browne out onto the curb, and instead reveals a kaleidoscopic, forever shifting artist that takes what you thought you knew, flips it on its head, and makes you question your perceptions, time and time again.
I’m sometimes funny, always hungry and still searching for those perfect blissed out chords that send us to out of space. I’m obsessed with the moon and forever inspired by the universe. I produce electro-pop music but cannot work a toaster… so IDK- there is still much growth to be had.
My Dream Rider
1. Kirsten Stewart – my girl crush. PLLLLEEEASE put her in my backstage room. You did say Fantasy-Rider! Plus she can double as security, I mean.. did you watch Charlies Angels?!
2. A never ending strawberry slurpie. Put simply, I’m a better me when sugared.
3. 5x baby goats. Although, it is possible I’ve been watching too many instagram videos of NYC goat yoga. (That is a thing, right?)
4. A time machine, not specifically for the gig. I’ve just always wanted one.
5. A warm rug, I am always cold. Especially in studios and backstage.
6.My grandmother, I know it makes me sound hella cute and sentimental – it’s not that. I just love to jump out of places and film myself scaring her when she least suspects it. I figure on tour, loads of new dark places to score some ultimate scare nan videos.
7. A large Rose quartz, my favourite crystal that calms and centres me. She brings me back to love.
8. An accurate mood ring.
9. A black leather note pad with a gold pen (my favourite items)
10. A good sound system … we need vibe.
New single + video ‘Malibu’ out now
I’ve two remixes dropping on August 26 for an emerging country artist Max Jackson.
A remix for Elaskia via Remix world also this month
A new youtube channel featuring Sonic Tonics, the next upload is a track called Letting Go- tuned for removing toxic thoughts.
When the four-time GRAMMY Award winner revealed the track listing for his September 18thalbum release ‘THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1’, little did he know that worldwide social media chatter would erupt because of faded yellow blocks placed next to songs, “Out The Cage” and “One Too Many.” Fans from around the globe, quipped, speculated about collaborators and exhibited the tell-tale signs of FOMO.
Today, the chatter ends as Urban reveals that “Out The Cage,” the album’s opening track, highlights a collaboration with Breland and the legendary guitarist Nile Rodgers, while “One Too Many” features the incomparable P!nk. An alternate version of “We Were,” features the song’s co-writer, Eric Church.
As the collaborators were announced Urban explained, “When I collaborate, I’m always looking for that ‘third thing.’ There’s what I do, there’s what my collaborator does and then there’s this ‘third thing’ that I’m most curious about. That’s what interests me the most – when the sum of the parts becomes even more than what I envisioned. That’s what I love so much about it – finding common ground, shaping it and bringing it together.”
