#New Rock Supergroup

[rockrevoltmagazine]

WORLD GONE COLD Joins Celebrated Roster at ROCK FEST RECORDS!

WORLD GONE COLD Joins Celebrated Roster at ROCK FEST RECORDS!

Nashville, TN based record label ROCKFEST RECORDS has announced the signing of melodic, heavy rock super group WORLD GONE COLD and the release of their debut single slated for November 2, 2023! “Rockfest Records is excited to announce the signing of World Gone Cold. The band members are all trailblazing rock industry veterans and have come together to produce some of the best music we’ve heard…

[fullaccessdetroit]

WORLD GONE COLD Joins Celebrated Roster at ROCK FEST RECORDS!

WORLD GONE COLD Joins Celebrated Roster at ROCK FEST RECORDS!

Debut Single Unveiling February 2, 2023! Nashville, TN based record label ROCKFEST RECORDS has announced the signing of melodic, heavy rock super group WORLD GONE COLD and the release of their debut single slated for November 2, 2023! “Rockfest Records is excited to announce the signing of World Gone Cold. The band members are all trailblazing rock industry veterans and have come together to…

[oscarpiastriwdc]

albums i would play for each driver on the 2024 F1 grid to expand their music taste

Max Verstappen: Graceland by Paul Simon - As a fan of classic and folk rock, I'd imagine Max has been exposed to Simon and Garfunkel and I think he'd enjoy the sprawling, detailed, careful expanse of Simon's solo masterpiece. Angels in the architecture spinning in infinity, etc etc

Checo Perez: Ramomex by Rebel'd Punk - One of the Mexican bands who pioneered punk music in the country, but Checo probably missed this release because he was too busy karting and moving to europe as a teen. It's never too late to have a proper angry punk phase, though.

Charles Leclerc: Ten Love Songs by Susanne Sundfør - Groundbreaking, life-altering pop music that pushes every boundary. This hits the sad songs craving and I think would interest him as a musician and burgeoning songwriter.

Carlos Sainz: Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey - daddy issues. I just know he'd vibe out to Brooklyn Baby.

Lando Norris: Destiny by DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ - I dream of sitting him down and exposing him to actually good, interesting, fun contemporary dj music.

Oscar Piastri: Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads - He has that certain David Byrne swag and demeanor of someone who'd love the Talking Heads if only given the chance.

Fernando Alonso: 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs - At first the old man would be extremely confused but once he was on board he would be blasting The Most Wanted Person In The United States all day every day.

Lance Stroll: Talon of the Hawk by The Front Bottoms - that post that's like the problem is men are making podcasts instead of forming midwest emo bands. but it's men are becoming f1 drivers instead of forming midwest emo bands. I think some TFB exposure could be the spark of inspiration for a great career pivot.

Lewis Hamilton: Maps by billy woods and Kenny Segal - I fear Lewis might have been too worried about Merc's performance last year to have checked out this fantastic collaboration that was one of 2023's best albums.

George Russell: Contra by Vampire Weekend - I just saw Vampire Weekend live following the release of the new album and at the show there was a guy a few feet ahead of me in the merch line who had the exact same energy as GR. The mix of prep vibes and world music would work into his taste while expanding his listening beyond coldplay.

Yuki Tsunoda: GLOW ON by Turnstile - 100% a selfish pick, I want to mosh with Yuki in the pit of a Turnstile pit.

Daniel Ricciardo: The Panhandlers by The Panhandlers - A country supergroup I return to time and again, wistful and nostalgic, making you yearn for West Texas no matter where in the world you are.

Alex Albon: Pelican West by Haircut 100 - Funky British jazz pop, perfect for dancing and vibing.

Logan Sargeant: Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling by Slaughter Beach, Dog - I fear Logie might be too young or too norm core to have had a proper Modern Baseball phase (it's never too late logie! listen to Intersection!) but Ewald's 2023 offering seems like something he missed last year that's perfectly up his alley.

Valtteri Bottas: Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective - Weird and complex, I think he should throw it on while on a long bike ride and let his mullet fly in the breeze.

Zhou Guanyu: God Save the Animals by Alex G - no you don't understand i need him to listen to Alex G he would love it

Kevin Magnussen: Heaven or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins - Ethereal music he can feel and let wash over him in a wave to relax and transcend the horrors of driving for Haas.

Nico Hulkenberg: Supernatural by Santana - dad music but make it funky and good

Pierre Gasly: Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans by Uffie - A perfect twist on early 2000s French electronic music, I think it'd remind him of the club while sounding entirely new and make him want to pick up a side dj gig of his own.

Esteban Ocon: Lescop by Lescop - French indie pop-rock! His most recent album is fantastic, but Este should check out Lescop's 2013 debut first.

following a conversation with @liamlawsonlesbian and her definitive book rec list i'm doing something similar for music (she bullied me into posting this sorry). large range in popularity/mainstream-ness of artists depending on the driver and what i think they're already listening to.

[colorisbyshe]

Monthly Music 08/24 Hehehe

Albums/Multi Song Section:

Taemin released a mini album. Honestly, listen to all of it, even the more ballad-y fare but honestly... Sexy In the Air is a track EVERYONE should give a shot. It's what it says on the tin--sexy. Highlights: Horizon, if you like Kavinsky but want a kpop, energy-infused twist, try this out! (ITS A REACH BUT!!). Crush has some MJ-esque delivery that is very enthralling. Deju Vu is for the people who want to feel songs vibrate in their bones and in their [redacted]

Tinashe released her follow-up to the (superior) BB/Angel! My faves are No Simulation, Thirsty, When I Get You Alone, + No Broke Boys. Chill, alt R&B. Ethereal, sensual. Tinashe and Taemin should collab or at least do choreo to each other's songs tbh. NBB is a modern reimagining of No Scrubs

Foster the People is baack. BIASED REVIEW because I'm a longterm fan. See You in the Afterlife (oddly cunty??), Feed Me (cuntier except some of the instrumental could've been produced on Gene Belcher's random sound keyboard), Paradise State of Mind (Tame Impala knock off, mayhaps), & Glitchzig (discordant, extraterrestrial).

Fromis_9, a kpop group, has had a mini release. Here's a mini review: Supersonic & Beat the Heat have a throwback appeal. Simple, joyful pop with a non-obtrusive vocal power behind it. Talent wins <3

JPEGMAFIA released a new album and it's... beyond explanation? Alt hip hop with an amazing infusion of rock, gospel, dance elements. Dark, funny, slick as hell. Highlights: i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone, sin miedo (my fave, I think), don't rely on other men, vulgar display of power, Exmilitary (great use of samples), JPEGULTRA! (denzel!!!!!!!!! HORNS!!!!!!!!1), either on or off the drugs (one of my faves, absolutely), & loop it and leave it. If you're like "that's a lot of songs," okay well the entire album is good. 9.9/10 album

Recent Releases:

"Feel The Way" Peggy Gou. Just a solid dance track.

Ibibio Sound Machine's Black Notes is groovy and vocally ascendant.

"Leave" Low Hanging Fruits is Krock that feels straight out like... mid 2000s alt-pop rock. Just lively and lovely.

My blog title was taken from a Chase & Status song, so of course I need to shout out their collab with Stormzy, "Backbone." Just goes hard, is grimy as hell, and goes WUB WUB.

Want something that goes harder? Petit Brabancon, Japanese metal supergroup, is back and "Gankou" is... growling and intense and also just kinda fun.

Not here for music that might be a bit scary? "Edge of Saturday Night" The Blessed Madonna, Kylie Minogue is some eurodance to take the edge off.

If you like that track, try "Urallineed" by Jazzi Bobbi for some vaguely dancy indie pop. Love her voice.

This could've gone on the album review but honestly... Monkey Majik's new album is kinda Maroon 5-y and doesn't deserve a full shout out but give HYLMN a listen if you want to hear a fun, misremembered rip off of Blur's Song 2. Also, I guess the song Imposter.

"Check" by Flo is like... the kpop tracks inspired by Tinashe but... not kpop. Does that make sense? American, Fifth Harmony-esque song that feels like a kpop GG ripping off American Tinashe. A perfect feedback loop. Delectable.

"Out of Touch" Four Year Strong. Throwback, pop punk sound with a modern flourish.

"Nissan Altima" Doechii. As a Nissan driver, I had to rec this lmao. Great song, great flow, GET YA TITS SUCKED

"Tokyo" Sable Hills. Screamo :3 The guitar fucks

Older tracks: Keep Away by Carly Rae Jepsen (song to sway to), Bloom by Macico (the Japanese sound Harry styles tried to rip off), Thanks for Your Time by Gotye (dour and sensual) and Miss Fatty by Million Stylez (music to shake your ass to)

Posting this early because I know more music (Chungha, Bree Runway) is coming and uhhhh this post is already too full

[astrangetorpedo]

CATHERINE MARKS: BOYGENIUS, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, AND FINDING EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

by Daniel Gumble | 4/22/24

Award-winning producer Catherine Marks sits down with Headliner to reflect on a whirlwind start to 2024, the magic that went into boygenius’s the record, and how her enduring relationship with Manchester Orchestra has taught her the importance of unlocking true “emotional freedom”in the studio…

“It’s been a crazy start to the year,” Catherine Marks exhales as she joins us via Zoom from her London home on a bright, early-Spring morning in late March. “I keep thinking it’s September or something.” In reality, it’s a month to the day until the 2024 MPG Awards ceremony, which will see Marks fighting on three fronts for a trio of highly coveted gongs. This year she’s up for Producer of the Year (an award she won in 2018) and Mix Engineer of the Year, while the record by indie rock ‘supergroup’ boygenuis, produced by Marks, is shortlisted for Album of the Year. Taking place on April 25th at The Troxy in London, the night will provide the Australian-born, London-based producer a rare moment to reflect on what has been one of the busiest and most fruitful spells of her career so far.

In the first quarter of 2024, she’s been hopping between continents to work across a number of new records, while also squeezing in a visit to the Grammys and the Resonator Awards, where her work on the widely lauded the record was deservedly recognised. At the Grammys, boygenius won Best Alternative Music Album, as well as Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for Not Strong Enough, while the band themselves presented Marks with the Powerhouse Award at The Resonator Awards in recognition of her work on the album. “I definitely felt like I was invited to the cool kids’ party by accident,” she laughs.

As those who have spent time with Marks will attest, she is excellent company. In conversation she is entertaining, thoughtful, and insightful, not to mention generous with her time, as evidenced by her almost apologetic disclaimer at the start of our conversation that she is battling through illness to talk to us. Still, she’s happy to speak at length about the year she’s had and what’s been keeping her busy in the first quarter of 2024.

“I started an album at the end of December with a band called Divorce and the day after we finished, I flew to LA, and the Resonator Awards were the day after that,” she says. “It was this intense period, and I don’t feel like I’ve really taken stock of that week in LA and meeting all those amazing people. And having already done a full album, it’s crazy! “It’s been a real whirlwind.”

The recognition Marks has received not just in the US but around the world for her work with boygenius certainly appears to have shifted the dial on her career. She was already a highly sought after, multi-award-winning producer and engineer, having cut her teeth with studio icons Flood and Alan Moulder and cultivating a client list that includes, to name a few, the likes of Foals, Alanis Morissette, Wolf Alice, Frank Turner, The Big Moon, and Manchester Orchestra, with whom she has become a regular collaborator.

We were both holding back tears… it was one of those magic moments.

However, when three of indie rock’s most celebrated songwriters, Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus decided to join forced under the boygenius moniker, few could have predicted the extent of acclaim and success their debut album the record would achieve. Their self-titled 2018 EP was met with critical acclaim, but offered little indication that their first full-length release five years later would go on to top multiple charts, scoop a raft of awards, and make the upper reaches of countless 2023 album of the year lists.

The iconography of the trio also elevated the record beyond the realm of the side project. From the album artwork, through to their already legendary take on Nirvana’s 1994 Rolling Stone magazine cover, which saw the band kitted out in pin-striped business suits, everything about the project felt synonymous with a bona fide band, rather than something that existed on the periphery of each member’s full-time solo career.

“They wanted me to mix their first EP, but the timings didn’t work out, as I was working with Manchester Orchestra,” Marks explains, recalling the origins of her relationship with the group. “And they reached out to me because of my work with Manchester Orchestra. There was a lot of mutual love and respect for those guys. But I had a meeting with them via Zoom and that was the first time we’d seen each other’s faces, and that was when we spoke about making an album together.”

While the ‘supergroup’ concept that shrouds the boygenius project is something that Bridgers, Baker, and Dacus were acutely aware of, Marks says that there was no discussion of the matter in the studio. As she puts it, the sessions were very much akin to recording a band, as opposed to three solo artists coming together.

“I don’t think that the ‘supergroup’ aspect was ever a real consideration, as they are all just really great friends and love each other very much,” Marks affirms. “As far as songwriting is concerned, they had written individually but had also gone away to work on them together before we started making the album. They treated it very much like a band where three people were bringing songs in, and they were critiquing each other’s music and lyrics. There was a lot of collaboration.”

Despite the collaborative spirit that fuelled the sessions, the task of weaving a cohesive whole from three distinct creative voices was one that hung heavily on Marks’s shoulders.

“We all knew it had to be a cohesive album,” she states. “That was something that was on my mind, but I don’t think it was ever articulated. Somehow the aesthetic of the album feels really consistent, yet each of their individual identities still shines through. It weighed heavily on my mind, but through the power of magic it turned out to be a cohesive record [laughs]. A lot of the other collaborators and musicians that worked on the album also helped to create this consistent sonic thread that runs all the way through it.

“We spent the first three- or four-days doing pre-production and working out how wanted everything to feel, so we were collectively conscious of making sure there was a flow to the album,” she continues, describing how they set the tone for the sessions. “We had a ‘wall of dreams’ that we would throw ideas at and we would write down particular influences and then see if there were other songs that fitted that aesthetic. There were relationships and interconnections between each song. That’s something I do on other records too. But they were so militant I don’t think they would have let anything veer off track.”

They were the toughest customers I’d worked with. I underestimated the challenge.

When reflecting on the most memorable moments shared between herself and the band (“there are too many to mention”), Marks is reminded of an especially poignant moment shared with Dacus when working on one of the album’s many highlights, We’re In Love.

“Lucy and I arrived the night before everyone else to start work on the album, and she played me this song,” says Marks. “There wasn’t really a structure to it, but there was this stunning, gorgeous melody that I was so moved by. Throughout the course of the time we were at the studio she carried on working at it. I had been saying I think it absolutely needs to be on the album, but it doesn’t feel finished yet. So, she worked really hard at it and performed it for me, and I thought it was beautiful.

“Anyway, on the day that we ended up recording it, it was still light outside and it was just her and I in the studio, and she played it just on the acoustic guitar in the control room. I had a couple of mics set up, and there was this beautiful light streaming in, and you can sort of hear at the end she chokes up, as I did. We were both holding back tears… it was just one of those magic moments. It was all about the performance, not recording the guitar and then adding the vocals over the top. She just put everything into this performance, and it was magical. That’s a really strong memory. But there were so many of those moments.”

As to whether or not the sessions offered any indication as to the rapturous response the record would be met with upon release, Marks takes a moment to consider her answer.

“I mean [pauses] it’s been next level,” she says. “I knew it would be significant. There are moments when you think back and get butterflies, like, I’m really a part of something special here. So, there is a kind of instinctive but intangible knowledge that you’re working on something special. And they are incredible characters. They are three of the best songwriters that exist today, so something had to go right!”

In looking back at the process of making the record and the spotlight it has drawn towards Marks and her oeuvre, our conversation gravitates toward some of the other records that have moved the needle on her career.

“Every record feels like that,” she states. “One of the most significant moments was engineering the Foals record (Holy Fire, 2013) with Flood and Alan Moulder. I was known within the industry from assisting in studios, but the success of that record put me on a lot of people’s radars. It was the next step from engineering into production on a commercial level.

“And there have been moments like working on Wolf Alice’s first EP (Moaning Lisa Smile, 2014), The Big Moon’s first record (Love In The 4th Dimension, 2017). And all the work I’ve done with Manchester Orchestra. I love working with them, and it seems like every band I work with LOVES Manchester Orchestra. My relationship and work with them has allowed me to learn so much and has enabled me to work with so many other artists.”

Marks’s work with Manchester Orchestra has undoubtedly been one of the defining features of her career. After producing the US rock outfit’s fifth album A Black Mile To The Surface (2017), she has become a regular and much loved collaborator, yet the harmonious relationship that has flourished between band and producer since was initially born from more tempestuous circumstances.

“On the first record we made together we were really at loggerheads,” she reveals. “They were the toughest customers I’d ever worked with. I underestimated how much of a challenge it would be. It was their fifth record, and I thought they’ll be very well versed in the process of making album, and it’ll just be really enjoyable and different to a lot of the first album projects I’d been working on. But I was really wrong, because they were putting so much pressure on themselves to make it the best album, they’d ever made, otherwise they were going to stop what they were doing. I didn’t anticipate that. Also, they are really polite, so it took about two weeks to get to the bottom of what needed to be done, and that really opened the floodgates.

“The way we communicate is so much freer now, which means it’s more about the creativity and the collaboration rather than the psychology. There are no minds games or personality challenges, we just accept each other for who we are and want to make amazing music.”

As we bid our farewells and allow Marks to return to nursing herself back to health before another imminent trip to LA to produce the new Rise Against album in April and another Manchester Orchestra record starting in May, she is keen to point out that those early moments of friction can not only yield positive results but can be essential in unlocking a project’s potential.

“I actually encourage that kind of discourse in the studio,” she signs off. “I want people to feel free to be however they want to be in order to express themselves. There should be chemistry and conversation. And those little tussles you have can reaffirm what you believe in. Obviously, I wouldn’t encourage aggression, but frustration and anger can be a part of that, and there is something exciting about that level of emotional freedom.”

(x)

[cadaverre]

OK HERE IS THE BOYGENIUS ARTICLE EVERYONE HAVE FUNN

i hit the word limit pretty quickly so i would have loved to write more and prob will add some at some point but the end is a little sudden lmaoo

boygenius – The supergroup of the decade 

First introduced to the world in August of 2018, boygenius has taken the rock and roll, folk and alternative music scene by storm. Comprised of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers, three artists with individually successful careers, boygenius came together and announced the creation of a self-titled EP by releasing three of the songs as singles on the same day: “Bite the Hand”, “Stay Down” and “Me & My Dog.” They surprised the music scene with their lyrical genius and beautifully produced tracks. In November of that year the group toured across the United States and performed on Tiny Desk, a series of live concerts hosted by the national radio program NPR Music. As a relatively new band, the publicity that this performance provided for boygenius gave them a huge boost towards stardom. 

In January 2023, the group announced the release of their debut album, suitably named the record. As with their first EP, boygenius released three singles from the album — “$20”, “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue” — and the cover art on the same day. The three singles were combined into a short film directed by Kristen Stewart called the film. On March 31st the record was released, with 12 tracks and no features. The album begins with “Without You Without Them” which is just the three of them vocalising. The song almost sounds unfinished, with the recording being slightly unclean and more of a show of their vocal talents. Next are “$20”, “Emily I’m Sorry” and “True Blue”, lead by Baker, Bridgers and Dacus respectively. Here the album begins to feel more like a compilation of solo works with features of the other members, which also gives listeners an idea of how their solo work might sound in comparison to how different they are as a band. However, in songs such as “Not Strong Enough” and “Cool About It”, a more collaborative feel can be seen, with all members leading verses and choruses.  

The fourth track, “Not Strong Enough”, consists of a more collaborative feel. Here all three lead verses and choruses. The lyrics convey a frustration with one’s mental health, a feeling of not being able to properly be there for someone because you’re trying to figure out how to be there for yourself. It seems that another theme of this song (and many others that boygenius writes) is the devaluation of women compared to men. Women have to be “strong enough to be your man”, while also being “always an angel, never a god”. Always an angel, always pure and innocent. 

the record is interesting in the way that many of the tracks have similar ideas and themes, while the production and sound quality differs greatly between songs. Moving through the album, tracks like “Satanist” and “Anti-Curse” with Baker as the lead bring boygenius to the punk rock side of the music industry, with grungy guitars, strong drums and screaming voices. For example during “Satanist”, Baker belts “I’m swimming back / See you don’t have to make it bad”. On the other side of the album are songs such as “Cool About It” and “Leonard Cohen” which are more lyrically profound and folk in genre.  

The album finishes with “Letter To An Old Poet” a companion song to “Me & My Dog” from their 2018 EP. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dacus talks about the bridge and her relationship with the song: “All three of us have struggled to actually want to be happy at times of our lives, but I think we all really deeply do want to be and often are, but it’s not a constant state. I’m so excited to sing that every night, and make Phoebe and Julien sing that every night. The stories you tell yourself about yourself come true. It’s a spell to cast.

Bridgers sums up the atmosphere of working with her best friends when asked about her relationship with the band in an interview with the music website Genius: “When asked what I think is special about our friendship and our band, I could either talk for three days or have nothing to say… its mythical and magical.”  

[smoothestjazz]

Hey whats up! What're your favorite jazz artists in these subgenres cause im looking for new shit to listen to and sources have informed me you're a bigger jazz fan than me:

-Smooth Jazz

-Jazz Fusion (like synth rock fusion type shit)

-Bossa Nova

-Acid Jazz

hello, you have come to the right place! I want to preface the following list by saying that there's a bit of overlap, as smooth jazz, acid jazz, and a decent amount of jazz fusion artists live in the umbrella of "contemporary jazz" (which also includes easy listening like Kenny G or smooth R&B like Sade).

all that being said, here's a few artists I feel exemplify their genre:

smooth jazz (to note: the term "smooth jazz" is controversial in jazz circles as some people claim it's not jazz at all. I disagree with that stance (obviously), though I will say that it's probably the least "jazzy" genre of jazz, at least since Glenn Miller and his milquetoast band back in the 30s and 40s): Bob James, Fourplay (supergroup with several headliners in the band, including Bob James), Boney James, Grover Washington Jr., Dave Koz, Joe Sample, Michael Franks, Spyro Gyra, Lindsey Webster

jazz fusion (alluded to this above but jazz fusion itself refers to jazz blends with other genres, some of which can get pretty out there.. given that you approached me, the smooth jazz guy, about this, I'll stick to the groups more firmly rooted in jazz, though I wanted to point out that this is a wide and varied genre): Pat Metheny Group (listen to them if you ignore everything else), George Duke, Fattburger, Yulara, The Rippingtons, Snarky Puppy, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis (later stuff specifically), Steely Dan

Bossa Nova (to note here, there are a lot of jazz artists that play with Bossa Nova elements, but to keep this list neat, I'm restricting this to Bossa Nova players specifically. I'm also, as you can tell, less of a straight ahead bossa nova guy): Sergio Mendes!, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stan Getz

Acid Jazz (if someone refers to "persona 5 music", it's acid jazz): Kombo, Incognito, Thundercat, Roy Ayers, Jamiroquai (they're jazz adjacent!)

happy to offer something a bit more refined if you want, but I actively listen to all of these artists!

[cherrylng]

100 Albums To Understand Muse - Part 2 [STYLE Series #004 - Muse (August 2010)]

ASIA Asia (1982) The first album by the supergroup that brought together ex-King Crimson's John Wetton, ex-Yes' Steve Howe & Jeffrey Downes and ex-ELP's Carl Palmer. The band's catchy melodies and dense sound were more important than their progressive experimentalism and grandeur. ‘Heat of the Moment’ was a big hit. -S

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA Tango: Zero Hour (1986) Produced by the brilliant Kip Hanrahan, the world's greatest bandoneon player and the most important figure who changed tango history with his unique compositions that added elements of classical and jazz. In the early days Matthew spoke of tango influences, but if you want to hear tango purely as music, start with this masterpiece. It is a whirlwind of intense sensuality and emotion. -S

BAUHAUS In The Flat Field (1979) The first masterpiece from Bauhaus, led by New Wave/Gothic Rock legend Peter Murphy. The band's songs such as the hauntingly intense ‘Double Dare’ and ‘Stigmata Mater’, with Daniel Ash's guitar sharply driving, do not sound old even today. Peter's ever-changing vocals are also a charm. -S

BIFFY CLYRO Only Revolutions (2009) The fifth album from the Scottish trio, two of the three brothers, who have often fronted Muse for their heavy guitars, emotional melodies and playing ability. Uplifting songs such as ‘Mountains’, with its piano intro and intense development, and ‘Many of Horror’, with its beautiful strings, shine. -S

BLACK SABBATH Paranoid (1970) I've never heard the Muse guys mention Sabbath directly as an influence, but for Matthew, who grew up on 90s grunge, it's a huge indirect influence. It's a great foundation for musicians who aspire to heavier music beyond the categories of hard rock and metal. The groove created by the throbbing bass riffs heard in the songs on this second album is similar to Matthew's music… -J

COLDPLAY A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002) Matthew and Chris Martin are said to be friends, although both have been aware of each other since they were expected to be Radiohead's successor bands. It is clear that they have at least been checking each other and inspiring each other. The solemn, classical influences of this album give the impression of a worldview more in tune with Muse's. -H

THE CLASH London Calling (1979) The quartet at the heart of the London punk movement that erupted at the end of the 1970s broke down the framework of the formalised punk sound and expanded their musical range considerably by incorporating ska, dub/reggae rock ‘n’ roll, calypso and more on this eclectic third album. Tight, hard-hitting, yet catchy, this album is renowned as a masterpiece of 80s UK rock. -I

THE COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE See This Through And Leave (2002) The first album from this talented multi-instrumentalist UK band, which split up in 2007. Loud guitars, bold synths and masculine vocals are fresh even today. Includes the exhilarating ‘Let's Kill Music’, reminiscent of Mansun, and ‘Been Training Dogs’ with its impressive three-beat riff. They also accompanied Muse on their ‘01 tour. -S

Translator's Note: I couldn't find the full album playlist for The Cooper Temple Clause's debut album on YouTube at all. Out of 11 songs, only 2 are available as music videos but the rest are hidden. So the Spotify link is my compromise. For what can be said, the debut album isn't available in my region on iTunes Store too.

[black-arcana]

EXIT EDEN Reveal New Single ‘Run!’ Feat. Marko Hietala + Announce New Album “Femmes Fatales”

[photo credit: Stephan Heilemann]

Symphonic metal supergroup EXIT EDEN, feat. Clémentine Delauney (Visions of Atlantis), Anna Brunner (League of Distortion) and Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite), are back to mesmerize audiences with their second studio album – illustrating strength and female empowerment with the title Femmes Fatales – set for release on January 12, 2024 via Napalm Records. EXIT EDEN’s new masterpiece contains its own original compositions as well as covers of international hits, and refers to the “femme fatale” as a symbol of women taking control of their own narratives with autonomy, intelligence and independence, and bringing pure feminine energy back into the world. 

With their debut, Rhapsodies in Black (2017), entering the German album charts at #15 and millions of views on their previous official videos, the trio presents the new single “Run!”, featuring a magical guest appearance by matchless vocalist Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish). Written by Anna Brunner and Hannes Braun (Kissin’ Dynamite), original track “Run!” showcases another astonishing facet of the album by bringing a folk-ish vibe alongside the outstanding appearance of Hietala, gracing the track with his distinctive voice. The haunting song arrives with a high quality official video, luring the listener into the mesmerizing world of EXIT EDEN.

EXIT EDEN state:                            “We are back and very excited to re-introduce EXIT EDEN, starting with the single ‘Run!’ – our very first original song ever. It features the legendary Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish), and we couldn’t be more honored! This is only one of the many facets of our new album, ‘Femmes Fatales’, and we can’t wait to share all of them with you.”

When Clémentine Delauney, Anna Brunner, Marina La Torraca and Amanda Somerville came together to form EXIT EDEN, topped by the release of their first album, Rhapsodies in Black, in summer 2017, it became immediately clear that this combination would be both powerful and magical! These four outstanding and independent female vocalists proved that symphonic heaviness can go hand in hand with pop music – dressing well-known classics in a yet unheard soundscape, and evoking more than just a covers album!   Now performing as a trio, EXIT EDEN‘s new full-length follows the path of its predecessor, as it contains six cover versions of famous cross-generational super-hits, but this time also shines by offering six original compositions. With one exception (“Dying in my Dreams”, co-written by Marina La Torraca), the remaining five original songs were brought to life by Anna Brunner and Hannes Braun (Kissin’ Dynamite), who is also responsible for recording, production and mixing, whereas the album was mastered by Jacob Hansen (Delain, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Destruction and many more).

Pre-order your copy of Femmes Fatales NOW

Self-confidently leading straight into the tempting world of EXIT EDEN, opening “Femme Fatale”,  “Buried in the Past” and “Hold Back Your Fear” conjure a mystical atmosphere with strings and orchestral elements, topped by complementary vocals uniting the sonic diversity of the all-femme trio. “Dying In My Dreams” and album closing “Elysium” set the tone as captivating mid-tempo tracks with intense choruses that speak straight to the heart. Moving further along the path where Rhapsodies in Black left off, EXIT EDEN picked the next selection of international super-hits – transforming them into their very own creation, yet still paying reverence to the originals on Femmes Fatales. “It’s a Sin” (Pet Shop Boys), “Separate Ways” (Journey), “Desanchantée” (Mylène Farmer), “Poison” (Alice Cooper), “Alone” (Heart) and “Kayleigh” (Marilion), re-arranged as undoubtably striking rock/symphonic metal compositions, form the common thread between the debut and Femmes Fatales.

With stellar vocals, an exceptional concept and high-quality production, EXIT EDEN have crafted another standout album that absolutely succeeds in expanding the identity of the supergroup even more, and gives fans the chance to experience three of the most beautiful and talented women in metal united as one on Femmes Fatales.

Femmes Fatales tracklisting: 1    Femme Fatale 2    It’s a Sin 3    Run! (feat. Marko Hietala) 4    Separate Ways 5    Buried in the Past 6    Désenchantée 7    Dying in my Dreams 8    Poison 9    Alone 10  Hold Back Your Fear 11  Kayleigh 12  Elysium        

[the-gothic-darkness]

Lords Of The New Church - Open Your Eyes

The Lords of the New Church were a British-American rock band. A supergroup, the line-up originally consisted of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex-the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex-the Damned), bassist Dave Tregunna (ex-Sham 69) and drummer Nick Turner (ex-the Barracudas).[

1982

[thatrickmcginnis]

BERNIE WORRELL, Toronto, 1987

I became a Parliament-Funkadelic fan before I heard a note of their music. It was 1977, and I was reading my brother-in-law's copy of Rolling Stone, which contained a concert review of the P-Funk Earth Tour at the back of the magazine. I saw the costumes and the spaceship and despite Toronto radio being nearly completely P-Funk-free at the time, I thought this looked like it must sound amazing. When I finally found my way to hearing something by George Clinton and his band(s) - I think it might have been "Flash Light" but I'm not sure - I wasn't disappointed, and when I started taking photos I made it my mission to get a portrait of anyone who was involved in the P-Funk universe. First up, and quite without expecting it, was keyboardist Bernie Worrell.

I had, of course, seen Bernie Worrell as part of the extended Talking Heads filmed by Jonathan Demme for Stop Making Sense. P-Funk were on something of a hiatus in the '80s, so various members of the group were appearing in all kinds of situations, and Worrell showed up in Toronto as part of the Golden Palominos - drummer Anton Fier's art rock/indie supergroup. Worrell was born in New Jersey and was an accomplished musician, studying at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music before a meeting with George Clinton inspired him to move to Detroit and become part of the collective of musicians recording and touring as either Parliament or Funkadelic or both.

I shot precisely four frames of Bernie Worrell, who I nervously approached during soundcheck at the El Mocambo, a Toronto club, knowing that I only had a third of a roll of 120 film left in my Mamiya C330. The stew of influences I was processing as a young photographer included Francis Wolff's work on the covers of Blue Note albums, and while I might not have been able to explain it at the time, I was definitely paying homage to (or ripping off, depending on how you look at it) Wolff's work on records by John Coltrane, Bud Powell and "Baby Face" Willette. I'm not sure these photos - the whole of the shoot, as of this post - have ever been published outside my old blog. Bernie Worrell died of cancer in 2016.

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

On this day... - September 13th

+ 1968 : Inside Club in Stockholm, Sweden

“For a while, a lot of people thought that the Yardbirds would lead the developing English pop but their efforts led nowhere. The members changed and the Yardbirds currently touring Sweden have very little in common with the original line-up. It is not only the line-up that has changed. The style of music is different, as is the quality - only the name is the same. Friday night they played the Inside. They were so loud it almost hurt. Sometimes playing loud has an important role in pop, but here it was just superficial effect.” (Stockholm Daily News)

+ 1971 : Community Theatre in Berkeley, California, USA

“Led Zeppelin, tabbed a supergroup by many rock critics, proved itself only to be loud, boisterous and very deafening at their first Bay Area appearance in over a year last week. Filling the Berkeley Community Theater with some 40 amplifiers and speakers, the English group apparently mis-judged its sound projection because its effect was almost unbelievable, and often unbearable. It is well known that Led Zeppelin is a talented group. […] A quiet and peaceful interlude where the group sat down and performed a couple of tunes including the lyrical and soothing (to the ear) "Going to California" almost saved the evening. They played acoustic guitar, but even it was plugged in.” – ‘Led Zeppelin bows in with a roar’ (Oakland Tribune)

[iwanthermidnightz]

Boygenius didn’t hold back at their first “proper” show in five years. The supergroup — made up of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker — took the stage at Coachella on Saturday night and immediately charmed the crowd by coming out to “The Boys Are Back in Town,” something that’s become an ongoing joke since they announced they were going on tour.

They were playful throughout the performance, tackling each other during “Salt in the Wound” and cracking jokes. However, their set was also a moment to take a stand: Dacus took a few seconds after introducing the band to speak up for trans rights. “I want to say before we keep going, I don’t know if you’ve been checking the news and seeing the tomfoolery that’s going on in Florida, Missouri, and so many other places, but trans lives matter, trans kids matter,” she said. “We’re going to fight it, and we’re going to win.”

Bridgers piped in shortly after, adding, “And abortion rocks, and fuck Ron DeSantis.”

[astrangetorpedo]

boygenius: “This is the time we finally get to be around each other – we’re gonna enjoy it”

As they release The Record, one of the year's most anticipated and acclaimed debut albums, we meet Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker in New York City to discuss their unique creative bond

by Gemma Samways

Tonight, the room is playing host to the 36th annual Tibet House US Benefit. Curated by Philip Glass – and featuring Laurie Anderson, Arooj Aftab and Bernard Sumner and Tom Chapman of New Order – the line-up reads like a particularly A-list episode of Later with… Jools Holland. It soon transpires its staging is similarly chaotic, with the event running approximately an hour behind schedule and artists often walking onstage unannounced.

boygenius are one of the few acts to enjoy a proper introduction. Added to the bill just 24 hours ago, their first public appearance in almost half a decade has prompted a frenzied, last minute scramble for seats, with $35 tickets exchanging hands for ten times that amount. A day later, in a photo studio in the East Village following our shoot at Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn, the trio admit to having felt a little freaked out in the build-up.

“I was really emotional because I’ve been obsessed with Nina Simone’s Carnegie Hall album of late,” Lucy Dacus confides, sat on the sofa, sandwiched between her bandmates. Julien Baker nods, confessing to having been “so stressed about doing my job that I couldn’t fully absorb that I was playing alongside living legends.” Meanwhile, Phoebe Bridgers was still semi-delirious with jetlag, having recently landed back in the US from Japan.

“Look at this photo,” she laughs, extending her phone to me. Taken pre-gig, it shows her passed out on the dressing room floor while Lucy smirks in the foreground. “With full make-up, I look like I’m in an open casket. And because Julien was playing piano, I was having Julien-fuelled dreams.”

Certainly there were no visible signs of unease as they stepped out onstage to play stripped-back versions of ‘Not Strong Enough’ and ‘Cool About It’ – taken from their long-awaited debut album The Record – for the first time. And despite the all-star bill, the supergroup proved one of the night’s biggest draws, eliciting excited whoops from an audience who had greeted every other performer with respectfully restrained applause. Ultimately, once they started playing, they enjoyed the experience.

Less gratifying was the discovery that a group of particularly intrusive fans had tracked down their hotel after the show. “They were like, ‘Don’t worry, you’re safe’,” Lucy shudders. “And it’s like, ‘No, we aren’t: how’d you find out where we are? That’s stalking. Don’t do this.

Phoebe continues: “I mean, interactions with fans can be really sweet, especially when it’s a show like Carnegie Hall which might’ve been hard to get tickets to. But often there’s this weird thing where the rudest people bubble to the top, and the poor kid who just wants their record signed is too nice to ask. And so, while I’m trying to escape the fucking full-grown man who just grabbed me, I’m ignoring the sweet kid.

It’s fair to say a certain level of hysteria has surrounded boygenius ever since their formation. Five years ago they were all ascendant stars of the alternative scene, with the Tennessee-born Baker and Richmond, Virginia-raised Dacus being the most established, with two acclaimed albums each. By the end of 2018, the trio were being breathlessly billed by Vogue as “the Infinity War of female-led indie-rock outfits,” while their self-titled EP received widespread praise.

Objectively, it’s a collaboration that made – and still makes – total sense. Despite outgrowing their respective DIY scenes, they had each retained a fiercely independent outlook and an emotional authenticity, and that struck a chord with similarly principled, serotonin-starved audiences. Just as tantalisingly, interviews and social media interactions revealed that they didn’t take themselves especially seriously and seemed keen to distance themselves from the pedestal that fans were so intent on putting them on.

“It’s probably refreshing that we’re not character artists,” Lucy says when asked to summarise the appeal of boygenius. “Because ultimately we’re talking to you now how we usually talk to each other. Even when I’m doing my own [solo] stuff, I present a curated version of myself – like, I pick one aspect of my character per album to share. But with this band it’s totally artless.”

It’s not hyperbolic to suggest that The Record is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. To some degree that demand can be explained by Baker and Dacus expanding their fanbases further off the back of their 2021 solo records Little Oblivions and Home Video. But the real responsibility for the band’s reach surely lies at the feet of Bridgers, whose second album was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon.

Unanimously agreed to be one of 2020’s standout records, Punisher propelled the Pasadena-raised artist into music’s A-list, resulting in four Grammy nominations, an offer to found her own label (Saddest Factory, home to MUNA) and invites to collaborate with household names like Paul McCartney, SZA, Lorde and The 1975. Just days after our interview Phoebe is named one of Time’s 2023 Women of the Year, alongside Cate Blanchett and Megan Rapinoe. This coming May she will open for Taylor Swift in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Despite the difference in their public profiles, the power dynamic in boygenius appears impressively balanced. A friendship first and foremost, they’ve signed the contract by acquiring matching tattoos of a tooth and of a cluster of goblets, the latter inspired by the tarot card the three of cups.

“That’s based on the first tarot reading Julien ever got,” Lucy – the band’s resident tarot expert – recalls fondly. “We were all together and that’s the first card she pulled. Plus it’s three women partying. Friendship is the highest form of love and that felt like a sweet entry into that world.”

Having been raised in the world of evangelical Christianity, Julien was initially resistant to the idea of tarot. “When you started doing a reading, I got up and sat in the tour van by myself because I thought God was gonna steal my soul,” she explains, totally serious.

“Does God do that?!” Phoebe laughs, incredulous.

“Yes! In [the book of] Samuel! But then I was like, ‘Alright, I trust you guys. I guess you can guide me through this.’ That was a fear that you guys helped me dismantle. Because by watching you engage with it, I realised that this was a tool for self-interrogation, not for summoning the devil.”

Within the band, all decisions are made democratically and affectionate ribbings are a big part of their social currency. “Roasting each other is an act of love,” Julien reasons, to the others’ approval. “If your friends aren’t talking shit about you, I don’t think they care about you.”

With Phoebe based in Los Angeles, Lucy in Philadelphia and Julien in Memphis, they largely stay in touch via group chat and FaceTime – a support network they all clearly cherish. “I can text cold something horrible that happened to me and not feel the pressure to look at my phone for hours,” says Phoebe. “But when I do I’ll see a bunch of validation.”

Julien concurs: “It’s neat that we can confide in each other. Because sometimes my sense of imposter syndrome makes me not want to talk about how excited I am about this with friends who don’t work in music. I’m talking to them like, ‘You gotta get on a plane super early and carry all this heavy equipment, so it’s not all fun.’ And having people understand it’s a job and that I’m dedicated to it is very important. But equally, with y’all I get to be like, ‘Shit’s so fucking sick!’ Like, in this band I get to be the type of excited and thankful that lacks decorum, especially when there are so many talented people in my life where our roles could have been switched in an alternate timeline.”

The roots of boygenius were laid in 2016, when Julien and Lucy performed on the same bill in Washington, D.C., followed by Julien meeting Phoebe a month later. When a canny promoter booked all three to tour together in 2018, they decided to record a collaborative seven-inch, a creative experiment that proved so fruitful they emerged with their eponymous EP.

By all accounts, the story behind The Record is similarly stress-free. Phoebe kickstarted the creative process just a week after releasing Punisher, sending a demo of ‘Emily, I’m Sorry’ to Lucy and Julien with the words, “Can we be a band again?” From there, the floodgates opened, with all three uploading demos to a shared drive, followed by two in-person writing trips – one in Healdsburg, California in April 2021 and another in Malibu in August of the same year.

Though carefully scheduled due to their individual work commitments, Lucy describes these retreats as anything but regimented. “We didn’t intend to work that hard,” she insists. “If anything, the regimen would have included breaks and we didn’t allow ourselves those.” Julien expands, “We’d be like, ‘Okay, today is a chill day,” but then we could not stop thinking about the record. And it’s just nice to be around a bunch of people who are passionate about the exact same thing.”

After whittling down the demos from a pool of 25, the final 12 were recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in January 2022, with the help of co-producer Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice, Foals, PJ Harvey). Lucy specifically cites Marks’ work with Manchester Orchestra as a motivating factor for them initially reaching out, and Phoebe enthuses about her hands-on approach. “She’s the kind of producer that immediately kicks off their shoes. Wait, I’m gonna text her and tell her we’re talking about her.” She takes a group selfie of them all grinning, flicking Vs, and hits send.

Other key contributors included engineer and producer Sarah Tudzin (Slowdive, Weyes Blood), plus Jay Som’s Melina Duterte on bass. Melina will also appear as part of Boygenius’ seven-strong touring line-up, set to be unveiled at Coachella in April. Given that their band name specifically mocks society’s tendency to unfairly exalt male creatives, the idea of boygenius assembling a largely female team for this album feels satisfyingly utopian. Today, they insist it was purely circumstantial.

“They are the best people we could think of,” says Lucy. “Some days I’m like, ten-year-old me would feel that this is very important. But also there are days where I’m like, we’re doing press right now and it’s completely uninteresting that we’re women. Why are we talking about this?”

“Plus, it’s not a given that if you work with women you’re not also working with a bunch of assholes,” Phoebe grins. “Fortunately, we picked a bunch of people who aren’t assholes.” Lucy laughs. “Women can be assholes: there’s your pull quote.”

Sonically, The Record is a much richer, more ambitious collection than anything boygenius have produced previously, taking in widescreen folk-rock (‘Not Strong Enough’) and low-slung punk (‘Satanist’, ‘$20’), campfire folk (‘Cool About It’, ‘Leonard Cohen’) and string-flecked dream-pop (‘Revolution 0’), plus a swooning a cappella piece shaped around a lush three-part harmony (‘Without You Without Them’).

Though written by Lucy, Phoebe can take full credit for unearthing the latter. “I was like, ‘I want a song that’s like ‘Blue Velvet’.’ And Lucy’s like, ‘Oh… Actually I might have a song…’ And I’m like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?!’”

“It was a washing the dishes song.” Lucy protests, smiling. “There’s, like, this whole category of songs that I don’t show people. And I didn’t think of that as a ‘me’ song because it doesn’t sound like what I do, you know? But Phoebe was like, ‘We have to do it.’ Plus, I like that it kind of picks up where we left off with ‘Ketchum, ID’ [from their 2018 EP]. So I’m glad you made us do that.”

This process of mutual encouragement is integral to the band. They’re the first to admit they’re one another’s fiercest supporters, to the extent they accidentally plagiarise each other on a regular basis. “I totally wrote ‘Garden Song’ the other day,” Julien tells Phoebe, who cheerfully bats back. “‘Revolution 0’ is basically me ripping off ‘Good News.’”

Jokes aside, all three songwriters boast instantly recognisable styles, as demonstrated by the triumvirate of singles with which they announced The Record. ‘Emily, I’m Sorry’ is quintessential Phoebe Bridgers, a slice of folky introspection that wouldn’t sound out of place on Punisher, while ‘True Blue’ showcases the quietly anthemic indie-rock that Lucy has made her calling card. Meanwhile, the buoyant ‘$20’ sees former hardcore kid Julien leaning into her love of riffing.

With most structures initially emanating from one particular songwriter, it does beg the question, what makes a track right for the band rather than remaining a solo endeavour? According to Phoebe, she relies on a type of benign Spidey-Sense. “I always know when I’m writing a boygenius song. Even with ‘Me And My Dog’ I was like, ‘I don’t think this is a solo record song.’”

Lucy is more specific. “A lot of times I’ll write a song for us in a different frame of mind, so you can be harmonising with me and saying something that’s still true for you. I don’t want to make either of you sing lyrics that don’t resonate with you.”

“I really struggle with that,” Phoebe says. “So much of my music is directly my point of view and so specific.”

“Totally,” Lucy nods, “I feel like on a lot of your songs we’re supporting…”

“…like a chorus in a Greek play,” replies Julien, finishing Lucy’s thought. “We’re not a part of the action: we’re standing behind, commenting on or observing it. But these songs only exist because we made The Record. They’re an article of the endeavour rather than a pre-planned thing.”

Lucy takes the final word on the subject. “These aren’t solo songs that we donated to each other: we had to be together to make it.”

Lyrically, The Record treads a tightrope between deadpan humour and quiet devastation. The opening line of ‘We’re In Love’ sees Lucy resolutely opting for the latter, singing, “You could absolutely break my heart / That’s how I know that we’re in love.” ‘Leonard Cohen’ falls firmly into the former camp, delivering a frontrunner for lyric of the year in: “Leonard Cohen once said there’s a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in / And I am not an old man having an existential crisis / In a Buddhist monastery / Writing horny poetry / But I agree.”

“I think my songs have a theme of being known and feeling present,” Lucy reflects. “Because I don’t feel that at all points in my life, I’m expressing my gratitude for that.” Phoebe sees her contributions as aspirational; evidence of the very process of self-improvement. “Each of the songs I contributed have a vibe of me trying my absolute hardest to not float ten inches above my body at all times. And you guys have helped me with that, so it makes sense that it would make the album.”

‘Not Strong Enough’ is perhaps their most collaborative song: a patchwork of ideas in which each band member takes a verse, as Julien jokes, “boyband-style”. Musically, it’s also the album’s most uplifting moment, its bright melody providing a smokescreen for lyrics exploring panic attacks and low self-esteem. When I point out the deception, Phoebe laughs. “You know the meme of the pink house and the black house next to each other, where it’s like one is the music and the other is the lyrics? That’s literally a couple miles from where we recorded our album. We’ve been talking about taking a photo in front of it for years.”

After an hour in their company, it’s not difficult to see why boygenius are inspiring such levels of adoration. A tight-knit gang of smart, talented, young songwriters, they’re the sort of band I wish had existed when I was growing up, even if I am battling to resist the urge to cast them as role models. After all, why should the men of rock be lauded for chaos while women have to be figures of unimpeachable virtue? When I mention the double standard, Lucy rolls her eyes.

“I remember when Phoebe did that Playboy article [in 2020]. People were texting me like, ‘I thought she was a role model for young girls?’ And I was like, 1. You can pose in Playboy and be a role model, and 2. When exactly did she sign up for that?”

“It is tight to me that you got texts and I did not,” Phoebe smiles. “I want to be scary. Like, as women or as queer people, we’re taught that anger is not useful and that forgiveness is the highest form of enlightenment. But I don’t think so. I think that I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to make everybody in a room feel ok when I don’t feel ok. It’s great to have boundaries. And as a band we’re all really good at protecting each other.”

Staying loyal to their DIY roots, boygenius are ultimately motivated by creating a community and enjoying the process of a shared endeavour. “Writing songs for this band is the opposite of saving your darlings for yourself,” Julien explains. “I want to bring the best possible offering to the band because it’s my favourite thing. It feels good to give the songs away.”

“Seriously, we have been looking forward to this time together for years,” says Phoebe. “This is the time we finally get to be around each other so we’re gonna enjoy it.”

(x) 4/5/23

[popentertainmentconcertreviews]

Boygenius – TD Pavilion at the Mann Center – Philadelphia, PA – September 30, 2023

Saturday was a night for a supergroup as Boygenius took to stage in Philly. The group is made up of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers. The three singers have successful musical careers of their own but combined their unbelievable vocals and changed the game.

Their first release was “boygenius,” an EP released in 2018 with hits “Salt In The Wound” and “Bite The Hand.” Their first album The Record was released March 31 of this year and hit number one on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums. “Not Strong Enough” off The Record is the biggest song in their career, hitting number one on the Billboard charts and over 50 million streams on Spotify. This was their first show in Philadelphia, and it was a big one, with a sold-out crowd of 14,000.

Boygenius’ long-awaited first-ever local show was worth waiting for. Fans of all ages and backgrounds gathered together in the TD Pavilion on a beautiful fall night. “The Boys Are Back In Town” by Thin Lizzy started playing while fans were impatiently waiting for the group to come out. It got quiet and a live video from backstage of the three singing “Without You Without Them” began. Fans were crying and singing along with them when the song ended, and the camera followed the three running to the stage. Bridgers, Baker, and Dacus entered the stage wearing their classic business dress of white button ups and gray slacks.

Starting off strong, they kicked it off with one of their more upbeat songs, “$20.” The next four songs came from their newest album. Then, throwing it back to their self-titled EP, they played “Souvenir” and “Bite The Hand.”

Concertgoers were truly in awe of Bridgers, Dacus, and Baker and were belting out the beautifully written and relatable lyrics with the singers. Each of the band members then performed one of their solo songs with the other two members doing backup vocals, giving the audience an updated version of their singles. Lucy Dacus performed her song “Please Stay” with Bridgers and Baker backing her up with angelic vocals. Julien Baker performed “Favor” and the audience was singing along and swaying as it came to an end. The crowd went wild for Phoebe’s song “Graceland Too” and it sounded like everyone knew every single word.

Then, they gave the audience a sneak peek into their new EP coming out on October 13th titled “The Rest,” by playing a new song called “Power.” They followed that with their gut wrenching “Me & My Dog,” which had many in the crowd in tears. Prior to the show starting, a fan organized a project and handed everyone colored pieces of paper to hold over their flashlights during “Me & My Dog.” It lit up the venue in beautiful rainbow colors. The band was touched and exclaimed how much it meant to them.

Bridgers then requested everyone keep their phones and cameras away for her performance of “Letter to an Old Poet.” She walked around the entire venue through the crowds and sang with the fans as they were heard in the microphone alongside Bridgers. She ran back up on stage for their biggest hit “Not Strong Enough.” This brought the energy level up just enough before they left the stage before the encore. Then, after “Ketchum, ID,” they ended the whole night with “Salt In The Wound,” a song that showcases their vocal ranges and how well their voices blend.

The show was incredible and well worth the wait for Philly fans. Keep an eye out for the new EP “The Rest,” coming out on October 13.

Maria Gilles

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 2, 2023.