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This Week on Let’s Loop

Over the last 33 years Kim Gordon has released 16 Sonic Youth albums (the band she formed with ex-husband Thurston Moore), 4 Free Kitten albums, 1 Body/Head album and 1 Glitterbust album, but she’s never released anything on her own… until now. The good news is, it was definitely worth the wait. From the funky bassline, to Stella Mozgawa’s (Warpaint) drumming, to Kim’s always amazing voice, Murdered Out is as good a debut single as we could’ve hoped for. Fingers crossed this isn’t just a one-off!!

If that didn’t get you feeling nostalgic, maybe this will… to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Endtroducing, DJ Shadow is letting a bunch of producers (incl. Hudson Mohawke & Adrian Younge) remix tracks from the original. First out of the gates is Clams Casino with this remix of Stem / Long Stem.

Not to be outdone, My Chemical Romance will celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Black Parade with a covers album of their own, led by this rather melancholy version of Cancer by Twenty One Pilots.

In other news, the marketing folks at Prada really earned their money this week by getting Perfume Genius to help sell their latest perfume. Genius! We also have a bunch of new tracks for you from Justice, Tinashe and loads more.

Dive into them individually below or listen to them all in this handy playlist.

Pick Of The Week

Murdered Out by Kim Gordon

Randy by Justice

Stem / Long Stem by DJ Shadow & Clams Casino

What We Got by Sir The Baptist

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Perfume Genius

Cancer by Twenty One Pilots

Little Bit Of This by GTA & Vince Staples

Real Thing by Lower Dens

Whiteout by Warpaint

Period Piece by Jenny Hval

Company by Tinashe

Really Doe by Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt

If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter and receive the Best New Music releases direct to your inbox every week, you can find sign up forms on our Facebook and Twitter pages or you can subscribe directly here.

Want to discover more music? Check out these Popular Playlists, this week’s Music Charts or see what artists are Trending on Let’s Loop right now.

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This Week on Let’s Loop

For the last couple of years Lady Gaga has been focusing on her acting career (it’s going pretty well btw, she won a Golden Globe last year), but she’s back to doing what she does best: making monster pop hits like her new single Perfect Illusion. According to Gaga, her role in American Horror Story had a significant influence on the creative process for her 5th solo album, which is due later this year, claiming “I have returned to something I’ve believed in so much, which is the art of darkness”. Sounds ominous, but we can’t wait.

In other comeback news: Kings Of Leon announced their upcoming 7th album and shared lead single Waste A Moment; Grandaddy surprised us all with two new singles, Way We Won’t & Clear Your History (they split up 10 years ago); and, after years of speculation, Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha has finally gone solo with the El-P produced digging for windows — presumably a result of the amazing Run The Jewels collaboration, Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck).

And as if that wasn’t enough, Röyksopp teamed up with the amazing Susanne Sundfør on Never Ever; Paul Valensi from The Strokes shared Ways To Fake It from his new band CRX; Dan Deacon showed us how much fun his concerts are with Change Your Life (You Can Do It); Nick Cave made us all cry (again) with I Need You; plus we’ve a bunch of new tracks from Die Antwoord, Green Day, Sia & Kendrick, Mac Miller & Ariana Grande, Drugdealer & Ariel Pink, Regina Spektor, Slaves and many more.

Dive into them individually below or listen to them all in one handy playlist here.

Pick Of The Week

Perfect Illusion by Lady Gaga

Perfect Illusion is the long-awaited lead single to Lady Gaga’s upcoming 5th solo album, which is expected later this year and follows up 2013’s ARTPOP.

Gaga co-produces the song with Mark Ronson, Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, and Bloodpop (formerly known as Blood Diamonds) who has previously worked with Grimes on Go (feat. Blood Diamonds), Madonna and Justin Bieber.

This is her first new music since her Oscar nominated Til It Happens To You (written for documentary The Hunting Ground) and her 2014 duets album with Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek.

digging for windows by Zack De La Rocha

After years of speculation and rumoured projects with DJ Shadow, Questlove from The Roots and Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine is finally going solo!!

digging for windows is the lead single to his as-yet-unnamed debut album, which will be produced by El-P and is due early next year.

Last year Zack appeared with El-P and Killer Mike on Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck), the standout track from the 2nd Run The Jewels album and presumably the collaboration that sparked El working on his new album.

Waste A Moment by Kings Of Leon

Waste A Moment is the lead single to Kings Of Leon’s upcoming 7th album, Walls (it stands for We Are Like Love Songs apparently), which is out October 14th and follows up 2013’s Mechanical Bull.

Way We Won’t by Grandaddy

It’s been 10 years since Grandaddy released their farewell album, Just Like the Fambly Cat, but we’re delighted to tell you that the indie legends are back with 2 new singles and an album on the way.

Way We Won’t joins Clear Your History on a new Double A-Side that is out for purchase today and is a prelude to an upcoming album on 30th Century Records, the label run by Danger Mouse (not sure if he’s producing or not).

Here’s what Danger Mouse had to say about his new signing:

“Grandaddy have always been one of my favourite bands. I think their new single is up there with their best work and I’m proud to have them become part of 30th Century.”

If you’re as excited as we are by this news, why not celebrate by revisiting their seminal album, The Sophtware Slump.

Ways To Fake It by CRX

Nick Valensi from The Strokes has a new band called CRX and this is the lead single to their upcoming debut album, New Skin (out October 28th), which was produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal.

If you like this sound of this, they will be supporting Beck on his upcoming US tour so grab yourself some tickets on Songkick (not that you really need another excuse to see Beck).

Take Control by Slaves

Take Control is the 2nd single and title track to Slaves upcoming 2nd album, Take Control, which is out September 30th and follows up their Mercury Prize nominated debut, Are You Satisfied?.

If you missed it, be sure to check out their excellent (and very noisy) lead single Spit It Out.

Fat Faded Fuck Face by Die Antwoord

Fat Faded Fuck Face is the 2nd single from Die Antwoord’s upcoming 4th album, Mount Ninji and da Nice Time Kid, which is out September 16th and follows up 2014’s Donker Mag and this year’s SUCK ON THIS mixtape.

The new track follows the recently released lead single, Banana Brain, and comes with the sad news that they are planning to break up in September 2017. Here’s what Ninja had to say:

“Die Antwoord dies on that day. It’s all over. I feel beautiful about it. I’m not scared of the end. I’m a Ninja. I’m not scared of death.”

Hopefully that still gives us time for album number 5 though!!

Revolution Radio by Green Day

Revolution Radio is the 2nd single and title track to Green Day’s upcoming 12th album, Revolution Radio, which is out October 7th and follows up their 2012 ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy.

If you missed it, be sure to check out lead single Bang Bang.

Black and White by Regina Spektor

Black and White is the 3rd single from Regina Spektor’s upcoming 7th album, Remember Us To Life, which is out September 30th and follows up 2012’s What We Saw from the Cheap Seats and You’ve Got Time, her theme song to Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black.

If you missed it, be sure to check out the excellent lead single Bleeding Heart and recently released Small Bill$.

I Need You by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

I Need You is the 2nd single from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ 16th album, Skeleton Tree, which was released on Friday and follows up 2013’s Push the Sky Away.

Skeleton Tree — which also features the recently released lead single Jesus Alone — is Nick’s first album since the tragic death of his teenage son last year, so expect things to get even darker than usual.

Change Your Life (You Can Do It) by Dan Deacon

We don’t know about you, but the video for Dan Deacon’s new song got us immediately checking for concert tickets — sadly he’s not coming to London any time soon, but if you’re in the US he’s touring right now so grab some tickets if you can.

The video for Change Your Life (You Can Do It) was filmed during the tour for last year’s Gliss Riffer album and (from everything we’ve heard) it perfectly captures the euphoria of his live shows. The song’s pretty great too btw!

Here’s what Dan had to say about his new track:

“Sometime in late 2015 a good friend and long time collaborator, Dave Hughes, asked me to write a new song for the New Year’s Eve episode of his show Off The Air. The theme for the show was ‘NEWNOW’ and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I was going through some pretty heavy shit at the time and was very depressed, confused and alone. The theme helped me realize I was in a transitional phase of my life and to try to pull myself together and remove the aspects of life that I was in conflict with. Writing the song became an opportunity to motivate myself to change myself.”

Easy To Forget by Drugdealer & Ariel Pink

Drugdealer — the latest incarnation of Michael Collins of RUN DMT, Salvia Plath & Silk Rhodes — is joined by Ariel Pink on the latest track to surface from his upcoming debut album, The End of Comedy.

Easy To Forget will be joined on the new album (out September 9th) by the amazing lead single Suddenly, which features the equally amazing Weyes Blood.

Je suis d’ailleurs by Alcest

Je suis d’ailleurs is the latest track to surface from Alcest’s upcoming 5th album, Kodama, which is out September 30th and will also feature the previously released Oiseaux de proie.

Kodama is the first new album from the French atmospheric-metal outfit since 2014’s Shelter.

The Greatest by Sia & Kendrick Lamar

Sia has teamed up with Kendrick Lamar on The Greatest, her first new single since last year’s This Is Acting album (though oddly his verse doesn’t appear in the video?!).

The Greatest follows up her updated version of Unstoppable, which she recorded for the 2016 Rio Olympics with Pusha T and producer Ariel Rechtshaid.

My Favorite Part by Mac Miller & Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande is the latest in an impressive roster of guest artists to feature on Mac Miller’s upcoming 4th album, The Divine Feminine, which is out Sep 16th.

My Favorite Part will join the previously released Dang! feat. Anderson .Paak and We feat. CeeLo Green on his follow up to 2014’s GO:OD AM, which will also feature guest spots from Bilal, Ty Dolla $ign and Kendrick Lamar.

Never Ever by Röyksopp & Susanne Sundfør

Röyksopp have teamed up with the amazing Susanne Sundfør again for their first new single since they stopped making albums — 2014’s The Inevitable End was their last in the “traditional album format”.

Never Ever is the first in a series of upcoming tracks that delve into using analog synthesizers and drum machines in combination with acoustic instruments, exploring “a counterpoint to the super-clean sound of modern electronic music”.

If you’re new to Susanne Sundfør, you simply must check out her 2015 album Ten Love Songs, it was easily one of the best releases that year. You should also listen to her previous collaborations with Röyksopp: Running To the Sea and Save Me, both from their The Inevitable End album.

If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter and receive the Best New Music releases direct to your inbox every week, you can find sign up forms on our Facebook and Twitter pages or you can subscribe directly here.

Want to discover more music? Check out these Popular Playlists, this week’s Music Charts or see what artists are Trending on Let���s Loop right now.

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This Week On Let’s Loop

Over the last 40 years, Nick Cave has proved time-and-again that he is one of the most talented, influential and important voices in music. From the post-punk ferocity of The Birthday Party, to the emotional intensity of The Bad Seeds, to the mid-life experimentation of Grinderman and his transcendent soundtracks, Nick is constantly reinventing himself and willing to try something new (he has written two novels and the screenplays for The Proposition and Lawless).

Musically, Nick rarely strays too far from the subjects of death (he killed Kylie), religion (Into My Arms), love (he wrote this stunner after breaking up with PJ Harvey) and violence (um, Murder Ballads anyone) and as depressing as that all sounds, his new album is likely to be his darkest yet. Skeleton Tree (out Friday) is his first release since the tragic death of his 15 year old son last year and it’s clear from the very first line (he shared Jesus Alone on Thursday) he’s tackling his loss head on: "You fell from the sky, crash landed in a field...".

On a cheerier note, we’ve a bunch of amazing new songs for you that don’t talk about death at all. Most notably, this week marked the return of a bunch of S’s: SOHN, Sylvan Esso, Sampha and Sleigh Bells, Broad City announced their series soundtrack & shared the infectious Tigre, plus we have new tracks from Bastille, James Blake and Vince Staples, Wilco, AlunaGeorge, Jack White, M.I.A. and ZAYN, Moses Sumney, The Radio Dept. and more.

Dive into them individually below or listen to them all in one handy playlist here.

Pick Of The Week

Jesus Alone by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Swedish Guns by The Radio Dept.

Tigre by Jarina De Marco

Someone To Lose by Wilco

Carolina Drama by Jack White

Radio by Sylvan Esso

Freedun by M.I.A. and ZAYN

Crusher by HEALTH

Signal by SOHN

Blood On Me by Sampha

Send Them Off! by Bastille

Timeless by James Blake & Vince Staples

Saturday Night by Devendra Banhart

Prima Donna by Vince Staples & A$AP Rocky

Mediator by AlunaGeorge

Worth It by Moses Sumney

What’s Up by How To Dress Well

It’s Just Us Now by Sleigh Bells

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Music Monday, 20th June 2016

Welcome to Music Monday — your weekly round-up of the Best New Music, videos, articles & upcoming releases on Let’s Loop.

💯 SONG OF THE WEEK: “When It Rains” by Danny Brown

Ever wondered what Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard would sound like if he was alive today? Well, Danny Brown’s the answer. Ever since his XXX mixtape, he’s felt like the heir apparent and this new Death Grips-inspired single (plus his amazing guest spot on The Avalanches’ Frankie Sinatra) is just further proof.

🔥 DON’T MISS: “Time Of The Blue” by The Tallest Man On Earth

When you’re constantly compared to Bob Dylan it must feel like a lot of pressure, but every new song Kristian Matsson, aka The Tallest Man On Earth, releases strengthens those claims. Time Of The Blue’s stripped back, acoustic style is a departure from last year’s Dark Bird Is Home, and it’s absolutely beautiful.

🔥 DON’T MISS: “Colours” by The Avalanches

It was always going to be a tall order to top their mind-blowing comeback single Frankie Sinatra, but The Avalanches have done it. With Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev on vocal duties and countless samples, Colours is another reminder of why, even after 16 years of silence, Wildflower will have been worth the wait.

🙌 WORTH A LISTEN: Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs (who just won a Tony for his roles as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson) returns to his roots with Shooter from clipping.’s new EP, Two Door Cinema Club return with Are We Ready? (Wreck), CHVRCHES share a new version of Every Open Eye track Bury It (feat. Paramore’s Hayley Williams), PHANTOGRAM return with You Don’t Get Me High Anymore, and Viet Cong change their name (for obvious reasons) to Preoccupations and share Anxiety.

🎬 VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Red Hot Chili Peppers Carpool Karaoke

To celebrate the release of their 11th album, The Getaway, the Red Hot Chili Peppers took a ride & sang some hits with James Corden. Naturally, their tops didn’t stay on for long. And they had a wrestle.

🤓 ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: The UK Leaving the EU Would Change the European Music Industry

Pitchfork’s Laura Snapes looks at the impact on the European Music Industry of a Leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum. The short answer: it’ll be utter chaos.

😍 LET’S LOOP CLASSICS: “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols” by Sex Pistols

With the vote on whether the UK should remain in the EU or not finally taking place this week, it somehow feels fitting to revisit the Sex Pistols punk classic that literally brought us Anarchy In The UK. 40 years on, Never Mind The Bollocks feels as relevant as ever, even if Johnny Rotten is now a corporate spokesman.

📆 UPCOMING RELEASES (Friday, 24th June):

BROODS — Conscious

Cassius — Ibifornia

Deerhoof — The Magic

DJ Shadow — The Mountain Will Fall

Hot Hot Heat — Hot Hot Heat

Rae Sremmurd — SremmLife 2

That’s it for this week, loopers. Want more? Check out your Recommended Loops, these Popular Playlists, this week’s Music Charts or see who’s Trending right now.

If you’d like to subscribe to our Music Monday newsletter, you can find sign up forms on our Facebook & Twitter pages or subscribe directly here.

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😢

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day, loopers!! ☘🇮🇪

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Music Monday, 14th March 2016

It's ‪‎Music Monday‬, loopers!! Here are some of the highlights from this week's newsletter (if you’re not a subscriber, sign up for free on Facebook or Twitter):

💯 SONG OF THE WEEK: “In God’s House” by Bat For Lashes

🔥 DON’T MISS: “Drone Bomb Me” by Anohni, “Sweet Fascination” by Ladyhawke & “Reformer” by Darkstar & Empress Of

😍 LET’S LOOP CLASSICS: “Out Of Time” by R.E.M.

🎬 VIDEO OF THE WEEK: The Lonely Island's POPSTAR trailer

🤓 ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: Rhymefest Finds His Father

🙌 WORTH A LISTEN: We've got new tracks from Ariana Grande, Vampire Weekend's Rostam, The Last Shadow Puppets (Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys & Miles Kane), Gwen Stefani, Frankie Cosmos, Lindstrøm, ZAYN, Julianna Barwick, Andrew Bird, Lawrence Rothman & many more...

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Listen to “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande on Let’s Loop

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Listen to “In God’s House” by Bat For Lashes

Following on from her cryptic I Do single & "Save The Date" artwork, Natasha Khan has announced details to her upcoming 4th Bat For Lashes album and shared this new track. The Bride is out July 1st and follows up 2012's The Haunted Man and last year's SEXWITCH project. Here's what Natasha had to say about the album: "The Bride follows the story of a woman whose fiancé has been killed in a crash on the way to the church for their wedding. The Bride flees the scene to take the honeymoon trip alone, resulting in a dark meditation on love, loss, grief, and celebration". She also plans to perform The Bride at a series of shows in churches ahead of the album's release, so head over to the Concerts tab on the Bat For Lashes page to grab your tickets.

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Listen to “Sweet Fascination” by Ladyhawke

Sweet Fascination is the lead single to Ladyhawke's upcoming 3rd album, Wild Things, which is out June 3rd and follows up 2012's Anxiety.

Update: you can now listen to A Love Song from the new album too.

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Listen to “Reformer (feat. Empress Of)” by Darkstar

Reformer is a collaboration between Darkstar and Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of, and is the lead single to Darkstar's upcoming EP (no word yet on when it's out or whether Lorely will feature on any other songs).

If you're new to Empress Of we highly recommend checking out her debut album Me, it's incredible!

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Listen to “Everything You’ve Come To Expect” by The Last Shadow Puppets

Everything You've Come To Expect is the title track to The Last Shadow Puppet's upcoming 2nd album, which is out April 1st and follows up their 2008 debut The Age Of The Understatement.

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Listen to “Drone Bomb Me” by ANOHNI

ANOHNI - the artist formerly known as Antony and the Johnsons - has announced her upcoming debut album as ANOHNI & shared Drone Bomb Me from it. Hopelessness is out on May 6th & also features lead single 4 Degrees. ICYMI, be sure to check out her guest spot on Manta Ray (feat. Antony) by J. Ralph, which earned her an Oscar nomination. If you wanna know why she boycotted the event, you can read about it on the Guardian here.

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Listen to “Nebula” by Julianna Barwick

Nebula is the lead single to Julianna Barwick's upcoming 3rd album, Will, which is out May 6th and follows up 2013's excellent Nepenthe.

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Listen to “Moon” by Beth Orton

“I am beside myself to be announcing a brand new beginning that has taken me years to be brave enough to make."

Brave is right, with production by Andrew Hung from Fuck Buttons this is a far cry from her Trailer Park days. But let's not forget that Beth got her start on One Too Many Mornings from The Chemicals Brothers debut album, Exit Planet Dust, so maybe she's just going back to her roots. Either way, it’s great!!

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Listen to “Lucien” by Young Magic

Lucien is the lead single to Young Magic's upcoming 3rd album, Still Life, which is out May 13th and follows up 2014's Breathing Statues.

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Listen to “Do It, Try It” by M83

Not since Moby's Play has an album crept into people's subconscious as much as the stunning Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (try it, bet you know all the songs), so it'll come as no surprise that Do It, Try It - the lead single to their 7th album Junk - is yet another earworm.

Junk is out April 8th and will feature guest spots from the amazing Susanne Sundfør (you gotta check out Ten Love Songs if you haven't already) & Beck.