Six years after their excellent record Complètement Fou, French duo Yelle (Jean-François Perrier aka GrandMarnier + Julie Budet) have finally announced the release of their fourth album. Following on from “Je t’aime encore,” a bitter love letter addressed to their home country, they’re now back with something totally euphoric. With its syncopated syllables and short sentences, the second single lifted from the album sounds a bit Japanese. It’s actually not a coincidence as it is titled “Karaté”. Like this martial art, it is definitely frontal and straightforward; everything we need at the moment.
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Annie is back. The Norwegian pop artist born Anne Lilia Berge Strand, whose last studio album Don’t Stop was released back in 2009, will return with her third LP this fall. It’s called Dark Hearts and will arrive October 16. The first single from the album is called “American Cars.”
The album was produced by Sound of Arrows’ Stefan Storm. In a statement, Annie called Dark Hearts “the soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist.” She added that “American Cars” is partly inspired by David Cronenberg’s Crash. “I did a lot of recording while I was pregnant, puking while I was singing,” she said. “Stefan had to go out to buy me liquorice, but I still managed to do some quite good vocals.”
Annie came to prominence at the beginning of the 2000s after the release of her debut single “Greatest Hit.” Her song “Heartbeat,” a single from her debut Anniemal, was named Pitchfork’s best song of 2004. Her most recent release, the Endless Vacation EP, was issued in 2015; the previous year, she protested Russian anti-gay laws with the single “Russian Kiss.”
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Two of the music world’s biggest international names, Arca and Rosalía have teamed up for the new single “KLK”.
The joint track serves as the latest single from Arca’s forthcoming album, KiCk i. Featuring co-production from the Venezuelan artist’s long-time collaborator Cardopusher, “KLK” is described in a press release as a “cyberpunk reggaetón song.” It’s a joyous and jittery electronic banger that finds Rosalía singing (loosely translated from Spanish) “Here with me, we are blessed!”
Check out how Arca and Roslía’s vocals intertwine throughout “KLK” by taking a listen below.
“KLK” marks the fourth song released from KiCk i following “Mequetrefe”, “Nonbinary”, and “Time”, The album is set for a June 26th release via XL Recordings. Besides Rosalía, other guests include SOPHIE and Arca’s frequent associate Björk. It follows Arca’s self-titled record from 2017, which we named one of our favorite albums of the year.
The track is just the latest collaboration from Rosalía, who shared “TKN” with Travis Scott in May and has been teasing something with Billie Eilish. The Catalonian pop star also released the standalone singles “Dolerme” and “Juro Que”.
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Drakeo the Ruler is fighting for his freedom a second time in two years. After being found not guilty on charges of murder and attempted murder last year, he is again awaiting trial. The Los Angeles County district attorney refiled charges of criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle; the case against him is bogus and racist, but Drakeo won’t let it stop him. He continues to make music, knowing that his music is an affront to his prosecutors and jailers. “I’m not involved in the shit I’m on trial for,” he said in a recent press release. “They are using their wild imagination against me.”
“Backflip or Sumn,” from Drakeo’s new mixtape, Thank You for Using GTL, dares to imagine a space where the rapper is unconfined. On the tape, which is named after the telecomm service used to record it from inside LA County’s Men’s Central Jail, he recreates vivid scenes from life on the outside. He refuses to let the court system decide who he gets to be in his music, where he conjures images of his outsized rap celebrity: back-to-back Ferraris, duffel bags filled with cash, lounging around bored in strip clubs. Here, he’s the man who beat a murder rap, not the criminal the state has made him out to be. His rapping has never sounded more vital, and there is something powerful about an artist whose lyrics have been used against him in court continuing to rap as he always has, even through a prison phone. He encapsulates this point in one line: “If art imitates life, you should probably panic.”
Even through the phone, Drakeo’s off-kilter flows jump out of the pockets. He bobs through these verses unfazed. Not even the muffled receiver can neutralize his calm delivery, and the circumstances don’t change his nonchalant yet controlled demeanor. “We double-parked outside your house, don’t be instigating/You an insta-hater/I told him take these headshots, it’s gon’ get you famous,” he raps. The slow-building JoogSzn production rolls out beneath him like a red carpet, and the beat whines as he raps about the 2Greedy indictment and facing the state; it’s as if the stakes are made clear twice over. But in the face of this adversity he remains at ease. The dazzling world within his memory palace is far too vast to be suppressed.
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“Last” is the first new Tourist track since last year’s Wild album, and is The Range’s first track since 2019’s Providence EP.
Tourist says of the new single, “‘Last’ to me, is a reflection on grief. I started this track with James a few years ago, and while writing it we noticed that we were hearing the lyric differently, I was hearing “you know you’re lost” whereas James was hearing “you know you last”. The duality of that truth resonated with me, as both meanings are applicable when someone leaves us. It has struck a more personal chord recently, as recently one of my dearest friends passed away very suddenly.”
The Range adds, “I think this song is a wonderful combination of Will’s and my individual music. I have fond memories of the day we made this one, as it was a beautiful day in London. This song captures an ephemeral sense of longing and transportation to me, particularly now for me as it feels like a totally different world from when Will and I wrote this song. In any case it’s an important song for both of us and we hope that feeling rings true to anyone listening.”
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