NEW Singles & Videos + Release Announcements + Brand New Signings
Lola unveils lucid trip-hop single | Listen to 'Under'
Tāmaki Makaurau-based artist Lola unveils her latest single, ‘Under,’ an ethereal call that blends the ambient spirit of ‘90s trip-hop with desert-tinged soundscapes. Exploring the tension between yearning and uncertainty, an enduring theme in her work, ‘Under’ captures the feeling of inertia, anchored by a dark driving rhythm. ‘Under’ is Lola’s third release this year, following the success of ‘Portal’ and ‘True.’ Each single has highlighted her versatility as an artist, with ‘Portal’ finding a strong foothold on alternative radio across Aotearoa, including a peak at number 4 on the Alternative Radio Scope Charts.
EVERYTHING IS RECORDED announce new album | Check out the awesome collaboration that is 'Losing You'
Everything Is Recorded, the collaborative music project centred around producer Richard Russell, today announces news of their third studio album. Temporary will be released on 28th February 2025 via XL Recordings and features an incredible roll call of collaborators including Sampha, Bill Callahan, Noah Cyrus, Florence Welch, Maddy Prior, Berwyn, Alabaster Deplume, Jah Wobble, Yazz Ahmed, Laura Groves, Kamasi Washington, Rickey Washington, Roses Gabor, Jack Peňate, Samantha Morton, Clari Freeman-Taylor and Nourished By Time. To celebrate news of the album, Everything Is Recorded today releases ‘Losing You’, the second single to be taken from the album. It features the redemptive vocals of longtime collaborators Sampha and Laura Groves alongside musical contributions from British-Bahraini composer and trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, and bass hero Jah Wobble, who brings the transformative, low-slung bass energy Russell has always sought.
GOAT GIRL share new track & video 'gossip' | Check out the latest with 'gossip'
London four piece Goat Girl today share a mesmerising new stand-alone single ‘gossip’, produced by the band and mixed by John ‘Spud’ Murphy (Lankum / Anna B Savage / black midi / caroline) in Ireland during the recording of their Below The Waste album. Embracing the electronic side of their music, the band took inspiration from Aphex Twin, Koreless, Tirzah and Gilla Band.
ARCHITECTS announce new album The Sky, The Earth & All Between | Check out lead single 'Whiplash'
British metalcore giants Architects announce their awaited new studio album, The Sky, The Earth & All Between, will release February 28, 2025 via Epitaph Records. Alongside the news the band have revealed the third single from the project, entitled ‘Whiplash’. True to its name, the track delivers head-spinning intensity, blending heavy instrumentation with stomping rock riffs and furious screams from vocalist Sam Carter. Known for creating massive sonic landscapes, Architects once again bring a brutal, circle-pit anthem with ‘Whiplash’ featuring one of their catchiest choruses alongside a bone-crushing metalcore breakdown.
HORSEGIRL announce new album | Check out super catchy new track '2468'
Horsegirl — the New York-via-Chicago trio of best friends Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, and Gigi Reece — announce their second album, Phonetics On and On, out February 14th, and release lead single/video, ‘2468’. Produced by Cate Le Bon and recorded at The Loft in Chicago, the band’s original and sonic home, Phonetics On and On is an exploration of the lines between pop, minimalism, and playful experimentation. Lead single ‘2468’ is one of the shining examples of experimentation on Phonetics On and On. Horsegirl explores Raincoats-like violin parts and kinetic percussion, building stealthily towards a head-spinning motorik crescendo. Written almost entirely in the studio, ‘2468’ stands as an achieved byproduct of rewriting and rearranging, adding and subtracting, flash-moments of instability, and embracing the unexpected result.
BARTEES STRANGE shares new song 'Xmas' | Take a listen
Bartees Strange shares holiday single ‘Xmas’ . In February 2025, Bartees Strange new album Horror will be available digitally, on CD, standard black vinyl, transparent vinyl (indie retail and artist store only). Bartees Strange cut his teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn whilst working in the Barack Obama administration and the environmental justice movement. Today’s offering is less Horror and more festive.
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS TRIO announce new album |Listen to nimble, pulsating track ‘Five Spots to Caravan’
Informed by the rhythms and textures of hip-hop and funk while remaining rooted in jazz, James Brandon Lewis Trio’s new album Apple Cores was recorded with longtime collaborators Chad Taylor (drums/mbira) and Josh Werner (bass/guitar). The album takes its name and intention from the column that poet and jazz theorist Amiri Baraka wrote for DownBeat in the 1960s. “I was first exposed to Amiri Baraka at Howard University [also Baraka’s alma mater],” says Lewis. “Blues People [Baraka’s groundbreaking 1963 study of Black American music], was required reading. I’m always in constant dialogue with his work.” In addition to Baraka, the influence of another jazz giant looms mightily over Apple Cores: trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, Don Cherry.
New Albums & EPs Out Now
KIM DEAL releases Nobody Loves You More album | OUT NOW - Essential weekend listening!
Nobody Loves You More is Kim Deal’s debut solo album has been released. In keeping with Deal’s meticulous approach to her art, the album was refined over several years; its oldest songs, ‘Are You Mine?’ and ‘Wish I Was’, were written and originally recorded in 2011 shortly after Deal came off the Pixies’ “Lost Cities Tour” and relocated to Los Angeles (early versions of those songs were included in a 2013 self-released five-part, ten-song seven-inch vinyl series). Every song has a story behind it, from the winter vacations with her parents in Florida Keys (‘Summerland’), wedding band covers of ‘Margaritaville’ (‘Coast’) to her mother’s dementia (‘Are You Mine?’). All in all, the record is a celebration of Deal’s unmatched artistry, nodding not only to her career highlights with celebrated bands across the alternative landscape (Pixies, The Amps, The Breeders), but also to her immovable cultural weight influencing musicians like Kurt Cobain and Olivia Rodrigo through the generations.
Tours, Events and Festivals
ALIEN WEAPONRY announce nationwide tour March 2025 | Get your tickets today
Fresh off an exhaustive North American tour, sensational thrash metal band ALIEN WEAPONRY will return home in superb form next March to deliver their colossal adrenaline-charged performance to their loyal fans on a 6-date NZ tour with phenomenal Tāmaki Makaurau Polynesian metal band SHEPHERDS REIGN. Metal fans nationwide have the chance to witness two of Aotearoa’s finest acts come together for a triumphant night of cultural heavy metal, a fresh sound conveyed through multi-lingual story-telling, ferocious tribal beats, crushingly heavy riffs and a raw, fervent power. Tickets go on sale at 9am Friday 22 November.
MJ LENDERMAN announces NZ shows + shares new video | Take a look at ‘You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In’
Earlier this year, North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and musician MJ Lenderman released one of 2024’s most celebrated records, Manning Fireworks, effectively establishing him as “a bright young star in the indie rock firmament.” (NPR Music) Following his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month and a fully sold-out fall North American tour, today, the band announces a March 2025 Australia/New Zealand tour. In conjunction with the tour announcement, MJ Lenderman releases a video for Manning Fireworks standout ‘You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In,’ which “boasts one of his prettiest, dreamiest, and most surprising arrangements [on the album]” (Hearing Things).
Rhythm and Alps 2024: Day Splits Announced | Get Your tickets today!
The countdown to New Year’s Eve just got more exciting! Rhythm and Alps, the South Island’s iconic New Year’s festival, has revealed its day splits for the 2024 event. With two jam-packed days of music, this year’s lineup is shaping up to be the ultimate celebration to ring in 2025.