Tokio Hotel interact with some model citizens, Era C do not accept the charges, KX9000 is imagining things, Chris Ianuzzi finds the rewards are limitless — and while it may seem that way, trust me, your Weekend Roundup will come to an end eventually. Just not right now:
78 | Tokio Hotel x VIZE | Behind Blue Eyes
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Tokio Hotel and VIZE premiere the video for their new single Behind Blue Eyes! The clip was made during yesterday’s finale of Germany’s Next Top Model, live on television. “The video is about fighting your own demons, resisting temptation and being yourself,” revealed Bill Kaulitz. “The video is so unique because the audience witnessed the video shoot as it happened live on TV. There was no safety net or plan B. We always believe in the power of emotions in the first moment. Mostly those are the special and authentic ones and we wanted to capture that.”
79 | Era C | Don’t Call Me From Los Angeles
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Downtempo electronic duo Era C just released their album Deliria, along with the single Don’t Call Me From Los Angeles. Sofia Insua tells us: “Deliria is about distance and its sneaky way of censoring the heart, preventing it from feeling. I wrote the tracks during various transitional periods in my life, so I was going through change — adapting, looking for the next steps, and finding ways for love to survive. Some of the most defining lyrics on the record popped up in my head while walking busy streets, while travelling, while in motion. I was discovering myself geographically and through the songs that ended being Deliria.”
80 | KX9000 | Hearing My Name (ft. ddöve & Tour Maubourg)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “KX9000 shares the track Hearing My Name with nu-jazz inspirations and featuring Tour Maubourg and the French singer ddöve. “It’s a slightly psyche-like gospel jam as tenderly catchy as it is joyfully melancholic, recorded in one afternoon at the Villette 45 studio with my buddy Tour Maubourg and ddöve, whose voice magnifies the song,” explains KX. Hearing My Name will be on his new EP 2L84ME, coming on June 25.”
81 | Chris Ianuzzi | Infinite Prize
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Experimental electronic composer Chris Ianuzzi has release Infinite Prize. It is accompanied by what could prove to be one of the most unique, penetrating music videos of the year. Chris enlisted the help of actress Legs Malone, artist Max Rosenthal, video editor D. Carlton Bright and creative consultant Nina Ianuzzi to bring this dark tale to life. He says: “My approach to the song and video from Day 1 was to capture the apocolyptic time we were entering in lockdown. Connections and relationships made and developed on Zoom and social media. I started this song and had a video in mind in April 2020. An imaginary relationship develops with a seductive, mystical, female character that comes through computer screen. The computer screen replaces the mirror in Alice in Wonderland.”
82 | Tomoko Omura | Urashima Suite
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “My new track is released today. It’s Urashima Suite. Along with it, I’m releasing its music video on my YouTube channel . I collaborated with Noah MacNeil and it’s a manga-style illustration video of the Japanese folk tale Urashima Taro. This track is in the upcoming album Branches Vol. 2, out June 18.”
83 | Kety Fusco | Ma Gnossienne
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Young Italian-Swiss harpist and composer Kety Fusco gives us a very personal version of the famous song Gnossienne N.1 by Erik Satie. In this modern reinterpretation, which Kety has entitled Ma Gnossienne, the harp is used in an unconventional way to generate sounds that have nothing to do with its classical timbre. The entire sound system is set up with sounds of vinyl scratched on metal strings, objects struck on the soundboard of the pre-sampled classical harp, and analogue effects manipulated live.”
84 | Cyrax | Odysseia
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Odysseia is a track from Cyrax’s album Experiences. The band say: “Odysseia continues the tradition of the Milanese group that at each release wants to propose a song alien to the metal genre. In this case, Odysseia is a tribute to the soft fusion scene, headed by historical names such as Spyro Gyra, Casiopea and T-Square. The piece features very catchy melodies, sax solos and Latin sections.”
85 | Sluka | Figure It Out
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Award-winning intellectual alternative rock artist Sluka have returned with the epic single and video Figure It Out. This adventurous song finds the band accompanied by a live orchestra and produced by Grammy winner Alan Sanderson. Figure It Out is the title track and lead single from Sluka’s upcoming album, due Oct. 1.”
86 | Kat Cunning | Boys
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kat Cunning has released the song Boys, an encouraging and personal love letter to the first transmasculine person they met and fell in love with. It’s a danceable pop track that shows off Kat’s most essential musical qualities — their honest songwriting and show-stopping, timeless vocals. “Since writing Boys three years ago, I have come out as non-binary … Unknowingly, I wrote the song as a letter of acceptance to myself, and I hope it applies to our community at large,” said Kat. “I want this song in the hands of every young queer person, in fact every person who has not yet found the place where they belong. It’s for anyone who has had to look outside of their own back yard to find a place where they are seen for who they truly are.”
87 | Payson Lewis & Emily Rosenfeld | Dance
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-pop artist Payson Lewis has teamed up with Emily Rosenfield for a charming acoustic version of his single Dance, an anthem to help bounce back when feeling low. “I’m extremely proud of this version that I created with Emily,” says Lewis. “Its introspective tone and determined pacing feel like a drive down a dusty highway; leaving suffering and doubt behind you, and nothing but purpose and fulfillment ahead.” Dance is a beautiful metaphor bringing meaning to the listener’s ears. “When we are down, deep, and lost in our own darkness, the way out is from within. Do the things that make you feel alive and suddenly, you will be.”
88 | Claptone | My Night (ft. Apre)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Claptone shares the track My Night — featuring electronic indie duo Apre — along with an ’80s movie-inspired video directed by Keith Musil. As Claptone puts it: “If I had a surfboard this is one [track] I’d instinctively develop a desire to catch a wave to. It’s one of those that you instantly wanna listen to again after it ends and again after it ends and so on. I really love it with all of my heart.” It’s no wonder Claptone is “really excited about working on this one with extremely talented U.K. indie pop duo Apre contributing their energetic vocals. If one can believe their bio — and I always do — they are inspired by the socially conscious observational lyricism as alternative indie. Add the smell of early summer, a pinch of French house and Claptone, of course, and you got My Night.”
89 | Gwyn Love x La+ch | Shit I Like
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Gwyn Love returns, teaming up with Canadian producer/artist La+ch for her electric new release Shit I Like. Known for blending a punk mentality with an electro-pop vibe, Gwyn retains her infectious attitude while turning up the voltage on her electronic, danceable atmosphere. While the track drips in confidence, Shit I Like was born out of a moment of anxiety and self-doubt that Love converted into an empowering anthem. “I really needed this song when I wrote it,” she says. “We all have to be reminded sometimes that it’s OK to take a break from everything and just do shit that you enjoy and makes you feel in tune with yourself.”
90 | Soleil | Noise
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Soleil returns with a powerful song and video that take storytelling to a new level. Noise is a darker sound than Soleil’s latest singles, but really puts her vocal range to the forefront. The video is ominous, yet beautiful and really demonstrates Soleil’s chops as a co-creative director. “At the time of writing, Noise, I was a bystander to a crime scene; I was recording in a place down the street of the crime scene when I learned about the crime.” Soleil continues: “The husband killed his wife and tried to bury her in the backyard. The whole situation really shook me, and led me to writing Noise.”
91 | Artists United Collective | All Together Now
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As the fabric of music in the U.K. remains under threat, new megagroup Artists United Collective, featuring artists such as Zuzu, Trampolene and The Crooks, stamp their collective feet with a collaborative, fundraising cover of The Farm’s 1991 hit All Together Now. Released a fortnight before Turkey and Italy kick off the delayed Euro 2021 competition in Rome, artists and organisers hope the emotive cover finds the passion of the terraces and raises vital funds for the U.K.’s suffering live venue community.”
92 | Pastel Stereo | The Joker
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Finnish alt-pop band Pastel Stereo share the single and video The Joker. Born from a demo singer Eemeli wrote during a rainy day in Helsinki, The Joker is “about insecurities and not knowing how to convey your feelings for someone into words. Everyone knows how awkward and in retrospect ridiculous adolescent love and relationships can be. This song gives off serious teen movie vibes. The person in the song is trying to make his love interest fall for him and trying to make her laugh by acting like a fool.”
93 | Iota Phi | Daydream
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iota Phi (aka Ilia Darlin) is a Greek singer, songwriter, director and producer. Inspired by ideas of identity, post humanism and greek mythology, her sound effortlessly brings together a swirling mix of alternative electronic, pop and R&B in a truly original and elegant art-pop package. Daydream is the second single taken from the debut album Homo Pauperis. Iota Phi says it’s “a conversation with an older self, a cruel self, a self that is part of me and someone that I will always have to keep in check.”
94 | Oui Plastique | The Fear
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Fear is the new single from electronica act Oui Plastique, taken from the forthcoming debut album Fraternity of Strangers. Oui Plastique are Martin Nyrup and James Thomas. The Fear shows another side of Oui Plastique’s songwriting ability and programming and production skills, as well as making a strong emotional connection with the listener. James says: “Writing The Fear was one of the most fun songwriting experiences I’ve had, but also one of the most challenging. With Martin having outdone himself once again with regard to writing the music, I knew I’d have to step up my game and really do this track justice by writing some vocals that really work well.”
95 | Babylung | Betrayal
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The COVID-19 pandemic created roadblocks that Vancouver R&B/hip-hop musician Babylung turned into creative challenges and inspiration on his third album To Live And Die In Surrey, set for release on July 30. The first single Betrayal is out today. Maximal, polarizing, and gut-wrenchingly beautiful, Betrayal is a tragic story of infidelity, told through the vivid imagery of being stabbed in the back. “I started to notice a pattern with Gen-Z and our struggle with commitment,” says Babylung. “Infidelity sadly isn’t uncommon and I noticed people in my life were dealing with deep emotional scars as a result. Relationships are almost dispensable to young people and I wanted Betrayal to capture the grief it causes in its rawest form.”
