<h1>CIRCUIT DES YEUX</h1>
<p>Haley Fohr is a vocalist, composer and singer-songwriter based in Chicago, Illinois. Her musical endeavors focus around our human condition, and her 15 year career as Circuit des Yeux has grown into one of America’s most successful efforts to connect the personal to the universal. She is most distinctly identified by her 4-octave voice and unique style of 12-string guitar. Her recent works include an Original Soundtrack for Charles Bryant’s silent film Salomé (1923), commissioned by Opera North, her critically acclaimed 2021 album -io, and two LPs under the mysterious moniker of Jackie Lynn.</p>
<hr>
<h1>LEYA</h1>
<p>LEYA&nbsp;– the duo of harpist&nbsp;Marilu Donovan&nbsp;and vocalist/violinist&nbsp;Adam Markiewicz&nbsp;– has long inhabited a beguiling world, blending Medieval-sounding origins with modern folk, classical, pop, and more. From deep roots in the NYC underground to international recognition as a crossover force, their work has found its way into spaces ranging from the club to fashion runways to Pornhub, and beyond.</p>
<p>The basis of LEYA is the unique tuning system of the harp, designed by Donovan for the project, which pairs with the distinctly wide, operatic singing range of Markiewicz, who further blends these vocals with processed violin tones. This sonic template is found on their 2018 debut&nbsp;The&nbsp;Fool&nbsp;and further developed on their 2020 breakthrough follow-up&nbsp;Flood Dream, which&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;called “the auditory equivalent of awakening in the fog of a bad dream only to discover you’re still trapped in the nightmare.” This sense of unease has become a distinctive tone for the project, a sort of collision of beauty and calamity that both soothes and disturbs its listeners.</p>
<p>LEYA’s distinctive sound was quickly noticed by other artists, starting with the release of their first single. In 2018 they were approached by rapper&nbsp;Brooke Candy&nbsp;to provide scoring and live acting for her adult film&nbsp;I Love You, which was produced by Pornhub for its Visionaries’ Directors Series and featured sound design by&nbsp;Sega Bodega. After an initial feature on&nbsp;The Fool, they followed in 2019 with the collaborative EP&nbsp;Angel Lust&nbsp;with&nbsp;Eartheater, with whom they have continued a close working relationship. In 2020 they released work with&nbsp;Actress, Liturgy, Drew McDowall (Coil/Psychic TV),&nbsp;and&nbsp;Christina Vantzou. In 2022 they released a fully collaborative mixtape comprised almost solely of features titled&nbsp;Eyeline. Other notable collaborators have included&nbsp;Ecco2K, Varg2TM, Julie Byrne, Okay Kaya, claire rousay, Deli Girls, James K,&nbsp;and many more.</p>
<p>LEYA’s latest release,&nbsp;I Forget Everything, marks their first return to the studio since 2022’s&nbsp;Eyeline&nbsp;and their first solo work since 2020’s&nbsp;Flood Dream. It comes on the heels of a relentless multi-year touring schedule, which began when COVID travel restrictions were lifted in 2021 and saw the duo performing steadily across the world through late 2023. Amidst this time, while working with many of the aforementioned collaborators, they also paired with fashion designers including&nbsp;Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein x i-D, Acne Studios, Elena Velez, HoodbyAir,&nbsp;video artists including&nbsp;Charles Atlas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jeremiah Carter, choreographers including&nbsp;Loni Landon, and myriad others in varying modes of performance, scoring, and installations.</p>
<p>Since returning from tour, LEYA have sought to return to the basics of their raw sound but have also reimagined their language, harnessing production experiments percolating in their tangential work in recent years.&nbsp;I Forget Everything&nbsp;marks their first solo release containing elements of electronic production, sourcing from home-recorded to high-fidelity sounds, tracing the bounds of new experiments, while remaining rooted in harp, strings, and voice as the sole source of these sounds. The work regards a “haven scorned,” shifting in perspective between the larger world and one that is private, even imagined. A reaction to calamity, it imagines that abandonment is necessary. The work will mark only the beginning of a new path for LEYA amidst ever-expanding horizons.</p>
<hr>
<h1>MANNA</h1>
<p>MANNA, the performing name of Manna Pourrezaei, is a Philadelphia-based experimental electronic musician and producer whose immersive synthetic forms invite deep listening and connection.</p>
<p>She has captivated audiences in spaces both intimate and vast, from Making Time Fort Mifflin—alongside Laraaji, Mary Lattimore, and Julianna Barwick—to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, The Gatherings Concert Series, and Great Circles’ Passages and Crossings A/V Series.</p>
<p>Her latest release on Mystery Circles, Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of Now, is an exercise in contradiction &amp; complexity—balancing fluidity with unexpected tonal and spatial shifts that challenge the listener’s expectations.</p>

Halo On The Inside Tour: Circuit des Yeux with LEYA, MANNA

<h1>CASINO HEARTS</h1>
<p>Based in Los Angeles, Casino Hearts are Forrest Holter, Nick Minor, and Jacob Rubeck. Rubeck and Minor originally formed the band in Reno in 2013 releasing a number of albums and becoming a staple of the local music scene. When Rubeck moved to Los Angeles, the band went on an indefinite hiatus with hopes to someday make music together again. In 2021, Minor moved to Los Angeles and the two members recruited Holter who would add a pop and electronic sensibility to the band’s indie rock sound ushering the band into a new era. Influenced by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Björk, Broadcast and Cocteau Twins, Casino Hearts debut EP, Lose Your Halo, is a sonic quilt of dream pop, distorted guitars and trance-like beats anchored by Holter’s ethereal gossamer voice. The band will release their second EP, ‘A Walk in The Grass’ in early March. It’s safe to say Casino Hearts have found their final form.</p>

Casino Hearts

<h1>ALAN SPARHAWK</h1>
<p>Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration—a conversation, a romance—between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low’s hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late lush chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.</p>
<p>Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer, and there is no question that WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is a record borne of grief. You can hear it in the title, as well as tracks such as “Heaven”, in which Sparhawk describes the afterlife, wrenchingly, as “a lonely place if you’re alone.” You can sense it too in Sparhawk’s decision to create this thing entirely on his own: every note, every lyric, every programmed beat. It would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats.</p>

WXPN 88.5 Welcomes: Alan Sparhawk (of Low)

<h1>QUEST MASTER</h1>
<p>Fantasy Synthesizer Music from Australia. Their triumphant return to Philadelphia.</p>
<hr>
<h1>FIEF</h1>
<p>Pure medieval bliss from Salt Lake City. First ever live dates on the east coast!</p>

A Special Seated Show with: Quest Master with Fief

<h1>THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE AND I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE</h1>
<p class="p1">Celebrating the tenth anniversary of ‘Harmlessness’, performing the album in its entirety.</p>

10 Years of 'Harmlessness': The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die with Atomic Life, Magazine Beach

<h1>TARA CLERKIN TRIO</h1>
<p>Not far off two years from the day, Bristol’s Tara Clerkin Trio return to World of Echo and the EP format for a five song collection of quixotic, emotional redolence. But do not mistake their absence for inertia. If their musical output has been a little sparse during those in-between years, limited to a few solo ventures and an astonishing ten minute long piece as a trio, their time has otherwise been richly spent: continuous writing and recording, extensive live performances across Europe and Japan, a cultivation of local and more far-flung artistic connections (musical and otherwise), and a monthly NTS show that, through the voice of others, speaks most obviously to their own unorthodox interests. It’s the conflux of that winding activity that leads indirectly to On The Turning Ground, 26 minutes of probing, thoughtful composition that draws from no one specific source.</p>
<p>Their inspirations might be centreless, but the trio still possess a very obvious anchor in the form of their hometown. Bristol stands as a city of multitudes, heterogenous and vibrant in such a way as to allow it to renew and remake time and again. Tara Clerkin Trio drink from that same well, duly reflecting a rich musical heritage built on fwd-facing electronic subcultures and experimental urges. As such, On The Turning Ground finds them subject to their own subtle internal evolution, the pervasive sense that you’ve caught them mid-bloom, on their way to becoming but never anything but themselves.</p>
<p>The two instrumental pieces that bookend the EP stand as a perfect case in point, displaying an increasing mastery of compositional space. Pensive and restrained, ‘Brigstow’ and ‘Once Around’ both emanate an interstitial quality that’s not so much after- as in-between-hours, miniature dub-folk symphonies held together by the kind of tacit understanding that remains the preserve of only the closest of family units. If those two tracks are shaped by a sense of shifting temporality, then the three vocal-led pieces that comprise the record’s core feel like a gentle ossifying of aesthetic into something approaching their own unique form of avant-pop. ‘Pop’ is, of course, a broadly subjective concept, but there’s no avoiding the overt sparkling melodicism of songs like ‘Marble Walls’ and ‘The Turning Ground’, undeniable re-directions of that late 90s impulse to bend pop sensibilities into off-centre terrain, to render the familiar new again. This is what Tara Clerkin Trio do, gently pulling the ground from under your feet, turning you to face something you’d not quite seen before. To view the world as they do: sideways, sometimes, all of the time.</p>

In Conjunction with Ars Nova Workshop: Tara Clerkin Trio

<h1>WEATHERDAY</h1>
<p class="p1">Weatherday is the noise-pop project of the mononymous Swedish artist Sputnik. While they have also found success with their side project, Lola’s Pocket PC, it is their cult-acclaimed album <i>Come in </i>that has garnered them a large and dedicated following through its raucous musical universe and serpentine sparklepunk stylings. Often heralded as an achievement of lo-fi bedroom pop tangled with threads of emo and DIY, <i>Come in </i>is better described, in its author’s own words, as a “life goal.”</p>
<p class="p1">The initial spark that ignited the fiery, heated debut from Weatherday originated from Sputnik’s desire to write, perform, and produce a record all on their own, from the ground up. Starting in 2014-2015, their preliminary attempts at what would eventually become <i>Come in </i>first materialized as a shoegaze EP, and then a dream-pop meets chamber-pop LP. Ever the perfectionist though, Sputnik wasn’t satisfied with the results and deleted the releases without a trace, finally deciding to set out in the direction of something more akin to their longtime influences of emo and its various subgenres.</p>
<p class="p1">After two years of tinkering in this stylistic sweetspot, Sputnik settled on the eleven knotted, maximal tracks that comprise <i>Come in</i>. From the caustic, harsh peaks of “Sleep in while you’re doing your best” to the soothing piano-laden passages of “Embarrassing paintings” and experimental, granular coda of “Water dreamer the same,” the range of Weatherday’s debut is doubtlessly a product of an artist who refuses to compromise a single shred of their vision.</p>
<hr>
<h1>COMBAT</h1>
<p>Combat has evolved beyond your wildest dreams to deliver you their long awaited Counter Intuitive Records debut LP “Stay Golden” due out August 16th, 2024. 14 blistering tracks of relentless rock, these kids from Baltimore have done what many dream of, some attempt, but only a few truly connect on. The Stay Golden era is here.</p>
<hr>
<h1>THE CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE</h1>
<div class="signed-out-artists-bio-text">
<p id="bio-text">gay/trans emo/screamo from philly !!</p>
</div>
<hr>
<h1>BOO BOO SPOILER</h1>
<p>Philadelphia rock band</p>

Hornet Disaster Tour 2025: Weatherday with Combat, The Civil War In France, Boo Boo Spoiler

<h1>GLIXEN</h1>
<p>Eluding all expectations of the current alternative rock space, Glixen come from Phoenix, Arizona and have taken their sound coast to coast on tour in North America. As influences, lead vocalist/guitarist Aislinn Ritchie cites My Bloody Valentine, No Doubt, and T.A.T.U. In the same breath, also citing heavier acts such as HUM and My Vitriol. Ritchie founded Glixen in 2020 and later added the talents of lead guitarist Esteban Santana, drummer Keire Johnson, and bassist Sonia Garcia.</p>
<p>Glixen released their debut EP She Only Said via Julias War Records on August 11th, 2023. The lead single Splendor sets the tone of the EP by masterfully capturing the swirling ambiance of 90s rock, ethereal pop vocals, and fuzzed out walls of guitar all wrapped up in a lacey white ribbon. She Only Said is a cathartic anthem that feels like glitter and thorns down the listeners spine.</p>

Glixen with Suzy Clue, She’s Green

<h1>LØLØ</h1>
<p class="p1">LØLØ’s journey started long before she became the<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp; </span>fully formed pop rock force we now know today,<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp; </span>gracing the stage with her hard hitting passion and tour de force performance energy. As a child rifling through her eclectic and extensive CD collection including everything from the <i>Wizard of Oz</i> soundtrack, to Hilary Duff, to Green Day, she learned how to play “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” and never put the guitar down from that point on. Emerging in 2018, she attracted a rabid fan base with heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics and hard-hitting melodies spiked with a pop rock spirit. She has dropped three EPs including <b><i>overkill</i></b><i> </i>EP [2021], and <b><i>debbie downer</i></b> EP [2022]. Among various standouts, her cover of “Dancing In The Dark” (Bruce Springsteen)<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp; </span>gathered over 29 million Spotify streams followed by “u turn me on (but u give me depression)” with north of 16 million Spotify streams. Plus, she earned the applause of <i>OnesToWatch</i>, <i>Kerrang!’s Sounds of 2024,</i> <i>Alternative Press</i>, <i>1883 Magazine</i>, <i>tmrw</i>, <i>PAPER</i> who attested, <i>“Full of all the anger, angst, cynicism and depression that makes a proper pop punk artist, Toronto singer-songwriter LØLØ is well on the rise” </i>and a mention in<i> September 2020 People Magazine “Emerging artists making their mark on the musical landscape”.</i> In 2021, she collaborated with pop punk icons Simple Plan on their Amazon Exclusive “I’m Just a Kid”. Moreover, she toured with everyone from Boys Like Girls to New Found Glory and Against The Current, and has performed at Lolapalooza, Sad Summer Festival, and Slam Dunk Festival. Along the way, she crafted what would become <b><i>falling for Robots and wishing I was one</i></b> with producer Mike Robinson. Now, she invites everyone into her mind on her 2024 full-length debut LP, f<i>alling for robots and wishing I was one</i> [Hopeless Records].</p>
<p class="p1">“I feel things way too hard,” she observes. “Maybe it’s a terrible thing for relationships, but it comes in handy for songwriting. Little things that shouldn’t affect me, do. I often find myself wishing I didn’t feel things too deeply. Growing up in the world today can be very complicated. You have to worry about all of these little factors. In a sense, the album really explores what it means to be human these days.”</p>
<hr>
<h1 class="p1">ELLA RED</h1>
<p>Alternative pop artist Ella Red is capturing hearts with her compelling songwriting, overtly feminine energy, and sweet yet commanding voice. She grew up playing piano, guitar, and cello before discovering her passion for songwriting in high school. At age 19, her debut single, “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,” gained widespread radio play, setting the stage for her recent viral hit, “I Like You Best” just a year later. Recently, Ella signed with Nettwerk Music Group, solidifying her place as an artist to watch.</p>

U Tour Me On: LØLØ with Ella Red

<h1>MDOU MOCTAR</h1>
<p>If Funeral for Justice was the sound of outrage, Tears of Injustice is the sound of grief.</p>
<p>Mdou Moctar’s new album is Funeral for Justice completely re-recorded and rearranged for acoustic and traditional instruments. It is an evolution of the band’s critically-adored breakout – the meditative mirror-image to the blistering original. Listen to “Imajighen” HERE.</p>
<p>In July of 2023, Mdou Moctar was on tour in the United States when the president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was deposed by a military junta who made him prisoner at the presidential residence. They ordered the nation’s borders closed, leaving band members Mdou Moctar, Ahmoudou Madassane, and Souleymane Ibrahim unable to return home to their families. Plans to record a companion to Funeral for Justice – then still many months from release – had been in the works already, but the idea now took on new urgency and gravity. Two days after the tour wrapped in New York City, the quartet began tracking Tears of Injustice at Brooklyn’s Bunker Studio with engineer Seth Manchester.</p>
<p>“We wanted to make a separate version of Funeral for people to hear,” explains the band’s US-based bassist and producer, Mikey Coltun. “We’re always playing around with arrangements at shows. We wanted to prove that we could do it on a record, too. And there’s a whole other side of the band that comes out when we play a stripped down set. It becomes something new.”</p>
<p>They chose to track Tears sitting together in one room, keeping the session loose, stripped down, and spontaneous. “We didn’t really work on the arrangements prior to going in,” recalls Coltun. “We’d just play, find the feel, and do the song.” Things came together quickly, with principal recording wrapped in only two days. The hypnotic 8-minute take of “Imouhar” is actually two distinct passes through the song performed in quick succession – Moctar didn’t stop playing long enough to split the takes apart. After a month, the band was able to return home to Niger and, when they did, Coltun gave Madassane a Zoom recorder to take along. The rhythm guitarist used it to record a group of Tuaregs performing call-and-response vocals, which were later added into the final mix.</p>
<p>On Funeral for Justice, anger at the plight of Niger and the Tuareg people is plainly expressed in the music’s volume and velocity.</p>
<p>On Tears, the songs retain that weight sans amplification. They are steeped in sadness, conveying the grief of a nation locked into a constant churn of poverty, colonial exploitation, and political upheaval. It is Tuareg protest music in raw and essential form. “When Mdou writes the lyrics, he typically writes them with an acoustic guitar. So you’re getting closer to that original moment,” says Coltun. “It retains heaviness, but it’s haunting.”</p>
<hr>
<h1>JANEL LEPPIN</h1>
<p>A composer and cellist who’s honed a singular synthesis of composition, orchestration and improvisation, Janel Leppin is best known as half of the experimental duo Janel and Anthony, which she co-leads with her husband guitarist Anthony Pirog. The chamber-jazz Ensemble Volcanic Ash materialized after years of incubation on Washington D.C.’s verdant new music, jazz and improvised music scenes. With this release, she steps forward as a bandleader in her own right, delivering a gorgeous debut brimming with singular musicians. The seven-piece group melds an illustrious array of D.C. talent into a glimmering expressive organism that surges, expands, ebbs and dances in multiple directions at once.</p>

WXPN 88.5 Welcomes | A Special Seated Show with: Mdou Moctar (acoustic) with Janel Lepin

<h1>BAY FACTION</h1>
<p>Borne out of an online message board,&nbsp;<b>Bay Faction</b>&nbsp;emerged in the Boston DIY scene in 2015 with the debut of their self-titled record.&nbsp; It was the first release on Counter Intuitive Records with the band’s album pressed on highly coveted vinyl.&nbsp; Following its release,&nbsp;<b>Bay Faction</b>&nbsp;spent 2 years rigorously touring nationwide, developing a cult-like following.&nbsp; After graduation, the band relocated to New York, and camped out in a suburban New Jersey basement to write and record their sophomore record&nbsp;<i>Florida Guilt</i>.&nbsp; The record marked a departure from their earlier style, trading in a conventional rock setup for sampled drums, synths, and vocal processing, embodying the ethos they had long sought to define.&nbsp; Highsnobiety named Bay Faction as “your favorite band you haven’t heard of yet” and nationwide touring ensued to promote their album.&nbsp; On the heels of the pandemic,&nbsp;<b>Bay Faction</b>&nbsp;bid farewell with the release of&nbsp;<i>Swan Dive</i>, their final song before entering hiatus.&nbsp; Now, in 2024, the band relaunched with a sold out tour and release of new singles&nbsp;<i>Drive Home</i>,&nbsp;<i>Eye Sore</i>, and&nbsp;<i>Sunshine</i>, from their highly anticipated forthcoming EP.</p>

Thanks For Waiting Tour 2025: Bay Faction

<h1>MIDRIFT</h1>
<hr>
<h1>HER NEW KNIFE</h1>
<hr>
<h1>MX LONELY</h1>

Midrift with Her New Knife, MX Lonely

<h1>DUA SALEH</h1>
<p>The music of LA-based Sudanese-American artist Dua Saleh (they/them) explores the inner self and the world at large. With their long-awaited full-length debut, a collection of R&amp;B-infused electronic indie-pop songs titled <i>I SHOULD CALL THEM</i>, they portray the spiritual power, resilience, and joy of love. Equal parts imaginative and lived-through, it’s a statement record only Saleh could make.</p>
<p>Across three EPs since 2019, heralded by The New York Times (“commanding”), NPR (“visionary”), and Pitchfork (“ambitious and riveting”) — alongside their breakout role in the Netflix series <i>Sex Education</i>—Saleh has deftly fused and inverted genre conventions with a socially conscious style driven by melody, grit, and bravado. Saleh’s foundation as first a skilled poet and their close ties to the indigenous roots have enriched their music with incredible depth. In 2023, they signed with Ghostly International with the punk-leaning standalone single “daylight falls” and took the cover of GAY TIMES as their <span class="s1">Rising Star in </span><span class="s1">Music honour recipient. Now </span>squarely at the helm of their first LP — guests include Ambré, Gallant, serpentwithfeet, and Sid Sriram — Saleh shapes their most vulnerable work to date, an apocalyptic narrative informed by environmental anxieties and their experiences as a lover, holding personal truth and hope amidst chaos. Sonically, the album ushers in a <span class="s1">new era for the artist whose boundless sound </span>continues to expand.</p>
<p>“It’s important for me to heal by being fully myself,” says Saleh, referring to the outsized role identity and gender expression play in their process. “I am being honest with myself with this record, this is my story.” They see queer love as an act of defiance, be it figuratively, in the album’s storyline, which follows two lovers at the end-of-times, or literally, in the many oppressed cultures around the world. T<span class="s1">hey reference </span>inspirations in popular culture with trans and queer representation such as Japanese manga and various <span class="s1">memes like the one the album’s title winks at. </span>They credit Minnesota, where Saleh came of age, for its inclusivity and catalyzing encouragement, and pay homage to the Midwest with the pulsing opening track “chi girl,” which details the playful pursuit of a crush in Chicago.</p>
<p>Saleh finds a kindred spirit in serpentwithfeet, who duets with them on the striking, string-backed “unruly.” “Something about his voice is so captivating,” says Saleh. “I think our connection musically is queerness, being able to have that against-all-odds connection with somebody where we may have had to resist our identity initially when we were younger. There’s a power that queerness holds for both of us.” The song pairs otherworldly atmospherics with a tangible bounce. serpentwithfeet rings questions into the night (“how’d I get so unruly”) as Saleh trails with hushed hooks and sly verses.</p>
<p>Throughout <i>I SHOULD CALL THEM</i>, Saleh is elastic in how they use their voice and tune the scenery to love’s sweetness and the moments that challenge it. “want” uses straightforward R&amp;B rock elements to underscore feelings of betrayal and resignation. “pussy suicide” is pure jealousy. Flanked by a looping guitar riff and moody trap beat, Saleh’s delivery adopts different pitches, from low, morphing drawls to high-register raps. They go tender on the Sid Sriram-featuring “time &amp; time again.” Saleh says the song reflects someone who “could have been the forever person but we weren’t meant to be in this time. We still have this deep bond and, maybe this happens more in queer relationships, we still look out for each other.” It embodies the softness required to survive.</p>
<p>On the smooth, surrealist back half highlight “television,” they harmonize with Ambré. “I feel a spiritual rush when I listen to the music that comes out of New Orleans, and I feel it in my gut with Ambré’s,” says Saleh. Gallant guests on “coast,” playing the classic R&amp;B counterpart to Saleh’s hyper-pop-inspired vocal take. Album closer “2excited” finds the characters in Saleh’s story embracing a rapturous love realized asthe world crumbles — signaled by a ‘Black Metal R&amp;B’ blowout of ascending percussion and guitar, saxophone sighs, and guttural cries. It is ecstasy and dread personified, catharsis for modern times, and a thrilling example of an artist unafraid and thriving.</p>
<hr>
<h1>HALIMA</h1>
<p class="">Halima sees making music as a spiritual practice, a space to confront her inner self, learn, and let go. Raised between Lagos and London, now based in Brooklyn, Halima draws from a tri-continental story that started as a student exploring the worlds of folk, jazz, and theatre and ever expands in the present. She marks her label debut with EXU, her first EP on the burgeoning Secretly affiliate drink sum wtr. Finding new pathways through the music of her youth — British soul, UK Garage, R&amp;B, and beyond — Halima anchors the project in the infinite nature of self-discovery, uncertainty, and renewal: “Both artistically and culturally, it represents all the places that informed my spirit.”&nbsp;</p>
<p class="">The title and concept come from Halima’s Nigerian heritage. Exu (Eshu) is the Yoruba deity of ‘crossroads,’ the great mediator between the forces of life and the messenger between humans and gods. “They are known for being the God of change, chaos, and unpredictability, so they are often misunderstood,” Halima explains. “But they are present in our lives to bring us to better versions of ourselves. This project is about facing Exu and resisting it. Then succumbing and realizing Exu is within you.”</p>
<p class="">EXU’s five tracks offer a glimpse into the universe and point of view of an artist discovering their intrinsic powers and embracing change, simultaneously at peace and in constant evolution.</p>

I Should Call Them World Tour: Dua Saleh with Halima

<h1>HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE</h1>
<p>Horse Jumper of Love thrive on patient and uncompromising songs. Thanks to frontman Dimitri Giannopoulos’ evocative lyrics and arrangements that suddenly turn from delicate to blistering, their music is full of intensity. While the Boston trio, which also includes bassist John Margaris and drummer James Doran, has stretched the fringes of indie, their latest is their most immediate yet. Out August 16 via Run For Cover Records, Disaster Trick tackles self-destructiveness with healing and heart.</p>
<p>Where Horse Jumper of Love’s last release 2023’s Heartbreak Rules excelled with quiet, bare-bones songwriting, Disaster Trick cranks up the volume while keeping the no-frills intimacy of the band’s catalog. Recorded at Asheville, North Carolina’s Drop of Sun Studios with producer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza), the recordings soar with searing guitars and an unshakeable rhythm section. “I tried the quiet thing on the last album and I realized there’s definitely two parts of me: I like really heavy music, and I like really gentle music,” says Giannopoulos. “The two albums I listened to the most while we were in the studio were Leonard Cohen’s Songs From a Room and Hum’s Downward is Heavenward.” This contrast between quiet and loud exists throughout Disaster Trick but it’s animated by stark emotion and straightforward, timeless songwriting.</p>
<p>Disaster Trick feels like a creative reset. It’s also Horse Jumper of Love distilled to their purest essence, which is partly due to Giannopoulos’ recent sobriety. “This was the first album I’ve ever done where I went into it with a very clear mind,” he says. “In the past, we would just show up at a studio, drink, and record. Here, everything felt purposeful.” With newfound energy, the band revisited old, unfinished material like “Gates of Heaven,” which dates back nearly a decade. Originally written during a period Giannopoulos describes as full of immaturity, he sings, “I am late to work again / I’m always missing something / when I walk out the door.” By focusing on a mundane moment, he highlights how self-defeating behaviors can linger.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For the band, the album marked an opportunity to strip down their songwriting to the essentials: urgent, accessible arrangements full of catharsis. “This album helped me realize that a lot of the time, simplicity is the answer,” says Giannopolous. Lead single “Wink,” captures this perfectly. When Giannopoulos sings over hushed guitars, “And your arms have never looked / More empty than they do from here,” his delivery exudes a remarkable earnestness. As the track hits a boiling point in its thunderous chorus, it’s disarmingly raw. Other songs like “Today’s Iconoclast” are imbued with wry humor, referencing both “the Amazon Basics Bible” and playing “fuck, marry, kill” in consecutive verses. Whatever the mood, Giannopoulos’ lyrical directness anchors Disaster Trick.</p>
<p>While in Asheville, the band enlisted collaborations from Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman and MJ Lenderman as well as Squirrel Flower’s Ella Williams. Opening track “Snow Angel” kicks off with a growling, shoegaze-tinged guitar riff. It’s a heavy song that’s grounded by wistfulness. “Would you pull me a feather / From your pillow – I want to dream like you,” sings Giannopoulos. Throughout, Disaster Trick navigates uncomfortable, dark thoughts with a subtle grace. On the downtempo and compelling “Word,” Giannopoulos finds lightness in relationship malaise: “Last night we had a fight / You blamed it on the moon / But that’s not very fair to the moon.”</p>
<p>Disaster Trick is a dark record but there’s a glimmer of hope throughout. As he sings on “Death Spiral,” “I know it sounds dramatic / But I must describe / The way that it felt.” This gets to the core of the album: looking back on mistakes with the grace and clarity that comes from growing up. “A lot of the songs came out of this point where things in my life were going well but I couldn’t accept it,” says Giannopoulos. “I was being a brat. Disaster Trick is me cleaning up my act and reflecting on it.”</p>
<hr>
<h1>SPENCER RADCLIFFE AND EVERYTHING</h1>
<p>Spencer Radcliffe and Everyone Else’s Hot Spring is a treatise on being present. It’s something sun bleached and clothbound, forever warmed on the dashboard, “a sequel of sorts,” Radcliffe says, referring to 2017’s Enjoy The Great Outdoors. And they’re heading back out with him, Everyone Else is, Radcliffe’s trustworthy companions: Ben Austin (cello), Grant Engstrom (lead guitar), Tina Scarpello (vocals), and Jack Schemenauer (percussion), with the addition of Pat Lyons playing the pedal steel guitar. Recorded by the band and handed off to JJ Golden, to safely wedge the message in the wire, a modern day telegraph affair. Hot Spring gives us space to see where we are, to clean up with a sound that is cleanly consistent in itself, coming back on some familiar-enough seeming things as the landscapes and seasons have moved past and with everyone.</p>
<p>Look.</p>
<p>Take a few steps in that direction. Get a closer view to be sure. Listen with one eye open.</p>
<hr>
<h1>PRIMAL RAT SCREW</h1>
<p>Primal Rat Screw pushes a lot of boundaries around extreme music (punk, metal, avant-garde, performance art, no-wave, and noise), as well as introducing techniques, songwriting styles, and lyrical content that is unique to its own. A complete mix of performance, swag, harmony, dissonance; designed to express the cultural relevance of spiritually heavy subject matter.</p>
<hr>
<h1>BOO BOO SPOILER</h1>
<p>Philadelphia Rock Band</p>

R5 Productions

@r5productions