Lucy Spraggan spaces out, Kap Bambino take a ride, Possessed return from beyond, Avantasia get lyrical, Jane’s Party get casual and more in today’s Roundup. Now get out there and enjoy your Friday night — after all, Monday morning is just 54 hours away!
1 Things are looking up for Lucy Spraggan. The rootsy pop singer-songwriter and former X Factor contestant is about to release her fifth studio album Today Was a Good Day. And in anticipation, she’s donning a space suit and going to town in the charming video for her single Lucky Stars. Why? She’ll tell you. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I thank my lucky stars for my family” says Lucy about the new single. “I’ve been through some incredibly dark times and although I’ve made many steps forward, I still get anxious and paranoid. This is how I came up with the idea for the video for Lucky Stars – when I feel anxious, I feel like people are staring at me as if I’m from outer space… So I donned an astronaut suit for the entire video.” Prepare for liftoff:
2 The Band taught us that life is a carnival. And now, French electro-punk duo Kap Bambino have taught us a carnival is a great place to pull out your phone and shoot the video for your whirling, pulsating new single Forever, the latest sneak peek at their April 12 album Dust, Fierce, Forever. Believe it or not. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Their fifth album is an irresistible whirlwind of sounds, in which the most disparate of elements spin together breathlessly. The record’s 13 concise, momentous tracks juggle around familiar sounds, suggestions of Eurodance and a hint of hardcore, creating an acrobatic, incongruous mix that never lacks moments of beauty.” Tickets, please:
3 Possessed are back from oblivion. And back with Revelations of Oblivion, the San Francisco death-metal originators’ first new studio album in more than three decades. Judging by their first single No More Room in Hell, they’re picking up right where they left off — and seem just as ferocious, maniacal and bloodthirsty as ever. Perhaps they’ve been, um, repossessed. Sorry. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “This album from start to release has been a fantastic experience. All of us in Possessed hope you enjoy this newest release and we look forward to touring and creating much more new music in the future. We appreciate all of your support and dedication.Hope to see you during our upcoming tours & shows soon. Thank you to each and every one of you for your inspiration and dedication to Possessed.” All rise:
4 It’s been a couple of years since we’ve heard from former Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate. But EdGuy vocalist and Avantasia mastermind Tobias Sammet has the answer to that: He recruited Tate to belt out the suitably soaring metal anthem Alchemy on his all-star collective’s recent release Moonglow. You’re welcome. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “When I wrote Alchemy I had no one but Geoff Tate in mind. He is one of the most influential singers in the history of Melodic Metal and I have always adored albums like Rage For Order and Operation Mindcrime. And that type of singing was exactly what I imagined to hear in Avantasia. When we were in the studio there was magic in the air, Geoff delivered and even though thousands of singers have been inspired by him, there is only one Geoff Tate.” Go for the gold:
5 Casual Friday just doesn’t do it for Jane’s Party. The Toronto pop-rockers have taken the concept to the next level with the title of their brand-new fourth full-length Casual Island. But there’s nothing casual about their commitment to crafting melodic midtempo pop gems like the album’s title cut. Not sure if the slo-mo surf lyric video is supposed to be all glitchy like that, or if it’s just a bad upload. Either way, the sound is fine. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “With each single, it’s becoming clear that Casual Island, Jane’s Party’s fourth, full-length, is the band’s most successful and mature effort to date. Touching on relationships, politics, the pervasiveness of technology, and the intractability of human nature, the album is carried by the breezy riffs and lush vocal harmonies that have become the pop-rock quartet’s hallmark.” Hang 10:
6 Music knows no borders. And with just 670 miles separating Havana from New Orleans, there has obviously been no shortage of cultural cross-pollination over the years. That relationship is in focus in the new musical documentary A Tuba to Cuba, which follows Ben Jaffe of NOLA’s Preservation Hall Jazz Band as he retraces his musical roots to the shores of Cuba in search of the indigenous music that birthed jazz. Of course, the soundtrack promises to be as essential as the film — and the upbeat single Kreyol should be all the proof you need of that. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Every evening in Havana people gather along the waterfront to socialize. I’ve always been taken by the tempo at which people stroll, like New Orleans, there’s a very particular rhythm to their walk. That rhythm was the inspiration for Kreyol. In fact, Kreyol is the Cuban spelling of Creole. You can feel that same Creole influence in New Orleans, it’s one of our many shared connections with Cuba.” Get in the groove:
https://youtu.be/r8wxZtuPKFY
7 Eventually, something’s got to give. And today, that something is Brooklyn based power-popsters We Are Scientists. And what they’ve got to give is the strummy acoustic number Give It Up, a bonus track from their upcoming deluxe reissue of their 2018 dance-rock outing Megaplex. Don’t say they never gave you anything. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of honing of craft to make it to six records… I mean, the Velvet Underground never made six albums. The Smiths didn’t. Pavement, Guns N’ Roses, The Stooges — none of them could do it. So, I guess we’re just objectively better than those bands now? It’s just a mathematical fact, right? Van Halen made six with David Lee Roth but only four with Sammy Hagar, so I guess we’re better than Hagar-era Van Halen but only just as good as Roth-era? Which, saying it out loud, makes total sense, yeah.” I give up:
8 We’ve all been adrift at some point in our lives. But few of us have the sense, the skill or the talent to turn those life experiences into songs. And fewer still would be able to turn them into a song as pretty as Manitoba folksinger and songwriter Logan McKillop’s latest single The Learning Curve, a preview of his forthcoming sophomore album Anchorless. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “I wrote this song at a time of my life when I was trying to become a better version of myself,” says Logan. “I was coming to terms with the fact that I was making a lot of mistakes and trying to learn from them. This song is ultimately about self forgiveness, growth, and using creativity to overcome hardships.” Listen and learn:
9 Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Especially when it comes to All the Smoke, a fearsome, full-on dubstep assault from Texas DJ Riot Ten, California producer Stoutty and Philadelphia rapper Bok Nero. Crank this one up to the max — but not at work, unless your boss is cool with hearing a lot of F-bombs. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “All The Smoke is the first official collaboration between Riot Ten and rising South Bay producer Stoutty and will appear on Riot Ten’s forthcoming 3rd EP. Light ’em up:
10Feel like you’re about to lose it? You’re not alone: New Zealand trap king Quix, New York mixmaster Luca Lush and Texas rapper Yung Bambi are all on edge today — as evinced by their clattering banger Berserk. Fire it up and cut loose. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “The trio take listeners on a wavy ride through frenzied hip-hop meets trap production.”
