the Los Angeles-based duo MOVIESTARZ put out their glittery new pop single “1.M FREQUENCIES” featuring Cali Rodi. This is the final single off their forthcoming debut album FANTASY > REALITY set for release on November 7th.
From the creative minds of best friends Tyler Nichols and Alex Pombar, MOVIESTARZ draws on EDM, hyperpop, and early-2000s pop-rock influences to make something entirely their own. Their latest single is just another example of the genre-bending sounds that can be expected on their new record.
“’1M Frequencies’ is one of the top contenders for my favorite song on the album. We made the demo for this song 2/13/24 and purposely saved this to be the last single before the album drops for a reason. I hope we’re playing this song on stages 20 years from now,” shares lead singer Tyler Nichols.
“I’m so excited to be a part of ‘1.M FREQUENCIES’! I was instantly drawn to the song the moment I heard it, with the way it combines both pop punk and electronic elements to create a synergy that I personally haven’t really heard before. I grew up listening to artists like blink-182, Avril Lavigne, and 3OH!3 so it was fun to channel my teenage self in these vocals,” adds featured pop vocalist, Cali Rodi.
Punk/alt-rock firebrand Kit Major has dropped the music video for her new single “Teenage Wannabe” out now via Futureless. A snarling, cinematic track brimming with horror-punk energy, it’s a tongue-in-cheek anthem of identity, chaos, and survival in a world that thrives on manufactured personas. The clip was directed by longtime collaborator Noël Dombroski and brings the camp and spectacle of B-horror and sci-fi films to vivid life.
This is Lily’s most intimate and expansive work to date, an evolution from her previous work fronting the 5-piece rock outfit Vakili Band. On Oceans of Kansas, she offers blues-soaked guitar riffs, delicate ballads, fiery rock anthems, hushed confessionals, and strikingly seductive Bossa Nova rhythms. Her voice moves effortlessly between grit and grace, roaring with ferocity one moment and whispering with vulnerability the next. It was on her most recent solo tour, while driving through the continental US with one of her brothers (a former submariner) as roadie, that she found the inspiration for this new era, signaled by her return to using her own name, Lily Vakili, rather than Vakili band, as well as the album’s title.
On that tour, opening for John Douglas of Trashcan Sinatras, an overnight stop led to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas, and Lily found herself in front of an exhibit about the prehistoric inland sea that once covered the Great Plains. “I understood something,” she reflects.“That I am the archivist, the archaeologist, of my own life.” The album draws on that revelation, honoring what’s been unearthed, what’s been lost, and what’s still surfacing. As Lily puts it, “Everything is fleeting, everything is here.”
This album is Lily’s “places album,” an ode to locations tied to emotional experiences, as well as a home for her “orphan songs” that never seemed to fit elsewhere. While there’s no longer an ocean in Kansas, Lily Vakili has given us an album filled with memories honoring what’s happened before, as well as excitement for what’s yet to come.
Berlin-based singer, songwriter, producer, and visual artist, bat zoo is a true multi-hyphenate creative. His African-American roots and eclectic upbringing shaped a sound where R&B melts into folk, soul into ambience. Known for his work with Majestic Casual-affiliated duo GOLDAand vocal ensemble A Song For You (Rhythm Section), bat zoo now steps into full focus with The Upward Bird, a culmination of years of trial and error, growth, and self-discovery. His long-awaited debut EP ‘The Upward Bird’ is a six-track meditation on memory, vulnerability, and transformation. Blending R&B, soul, folk, and experimental electronic textures, the project captures the full range of bat zoo’s artistry – emotional, cinematic, and unapologetically human.
https://lekkercollective.bandcamp.com/album/the-upward-bird
A gorgeous, yet haunting reflection of the changes we undergo as human beings, Meredith Adelaide‘s “What Do I Know” is an indie folk anthem that tugs at the heartstrings. Demonstrating a tossup between being wise beyond your years and holding yourself accountable to your past flaws, the tune’s lyrical swells of melancholy are on par with those of Phoebe Bridgers or Adrienne Lenker. “What Do I Know” invites those listening to accept change, although it can be scary at first. Produced by Khushi (James Blake, Monica Martin, Ruti), the mix is perfectly barren, featuring mainly Adelaide‘s heartfelt vocal delivery alongside a simple folk guitar.
Seattle, WA-based eight-piece psych funk outfit Cytrus announces their punchy sophomore album Duality due out November 14 and available for pre-save now. With the announcement, the band shares the first taste of the project with “Outta Control,” out now. Plus, the band will perform live via YouTube and later, in person, this winter across Oregon and Washington–see dates.
Duality pays homage to 1960s & 1970s rock, soul and psychedelia, while exploring themes of good, evil, mortality, immortality and time. Over six tracks, the group finds their groove with flowing instrumentals, soaring solos, hard-hitting riffs. With these songs, the band found their identity, their artistic direction and paved their path forward.
Jared Squires (guitar/vocals) says making the album “felt tangible, urgent and loved. I think this shines through in the final product. This is a sophomore album from a band that has the utmost respect for attention to detail in their craft. I’m just really proud of what we created.” The group hopes to take listeners on a journey that delicately balances nostalgia with present-day and the familiar and the foreign
Slow, sludgy and melancholic, “Outta Control” looks at the choices one makes and how one spends their time. As it unfolds, it reminisces on how these choices played out. It was with the making of this track that the band found their direction for the project as a whole. It’s become a staple in the high energy live show, so capturing the magic in a studio proved to be a challenge, but the band is proud of the result. Owen Mayo (guitar/keys) says, “The studio rendition seems to maintain the true essence of our performances from the past 2 years, while also benefiting from the polish and maximalism that you can get from a finished record. We’re very proud of how this one turned out, and that’s a big reason why we chose it as our lead single for this album.”
Cincinnati indie-rock singer/songwriter Maura Weaver (Mixtapes, Ogikubo Station, The Mimes) proudly releases her sophomore album Strange Devotion via Feel It Records, now available on major streaming platforms.
Following her 2023 debut I Was Due For A Heartbreak (Don Giovanni Records), Strange Devotion continues to lean into Weaver’s melody-driven and thought provoking lyrics. Her confidence flows through the ten distinct tracks suffused with intentional and delicate storytelling while presenting a sonic palette that spans the Feelies, Teenage Fanclub, Liz Phair, and even the Cars. From “Prince,” a bright and light song destined for blasting with the car windows down, to the infectious “Do Nothing” to the impeccable riffs on “The Face,” every molecule of this record reflects Weaver’s continued maturation as a solo artist, a band leader, a player, and a songwriter.
“Strange Devotion is very special to me,” says Weaver. “I challenged myself to keep going until things were just right and not be passive in the studio—I played more instruments, the performances were tighter, and creatively John Hoffman and I had more fun in the studio. We got amazing people playing on the record (members of Vacation, The Afghan Whigs, WHY?, Spoils, Beef, The Ophelias). I wrote music almost every day during the process. We recorded around 15 or 16 songs and only the 10 best ones made the cut. I hope you love it as much as I do.”
Over the last three decades singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom Hamilton has made a career of pushing rock n’ roll boundaries, fronting a cadre of bands including Brothers Past, American Babies and Ghost Light. Hamilton also sings and plays lead guitar in the juggernaut contemporary Grateful Dead cover band, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Today, Hamilton is thrilled to announce his debut solo album I’m Your Vampire, due out on January 23 via AWAL/Relix. The first single off the album, “Don’t Give Up On Me” is out now with accompanying music video directed by Joe Lee. The album was co-produced by Hamilton and Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman/Wednesday).
It wasn’t until recently that a series of personal and societal crises compelled the Philadelphia based musician/songwriter/producer to reconsider his approach and finally forge ahead under his own name.
“When you’re in a van on the road for 20 years, you live in your bubble, you think that your world is one way — and it’s not. The pandemic break gave me the time to see that. Then my band broke up and my dad got sick. The only respite I had was the studio.”
fresh off a whirlwind release of their irreverent new album Bonanza, Portland, Oregon’s The Macks share the official music video for “Cypher Sore Eyes.” This standout cut from the recent record is a droning, dissonant and disillusioned track where they question how we are supposed to move about life when every action seems to support a cause we don’t stand behind.
In the video, directed by Jake Thiessan and shot on 16mm and Super 8, we see The Macks in raw form; trudging through their hometown haunts, gear in hand. “The goal was to show our appreciation for Portland and showcasing the areas that we see every day, not your standard tourist locations,” shared vocalist Sam Fulwiler. “It’s also a vibe piece that shows us wearing what we actually wear on stage, which was a nice contrast to the first video [“Dually of Man” / “The Modern Grape”] which has us dressed in a way that we never do with hi-fi production.”
Irish folk quintet Some One’s Sons return with their latest single, The Chance to Feel Alive, releasing October 31st. The song is a raw folk anthem about escapism, where fleeting moments of relief are found at the bottom of a glass. Amid soaring rents, friends emigrating, and the grind of modern life, the refrain “10 pints of porter and the chance to feel alive” becomes both a rallying cry and a lament.
Written by singer-songwriter Daniel Allen, The Chance to Feel Alive blends ritual-like folk soundscapes with Celtic guitar backdrops and a hint of western influence. Drawing on textures reminiscent of Ispíní na hÉireann, The Scratch, and The Highwaymen, bouzouki layers lend a cinematic spaghetti western edge, creating a rich backdrop for a vivid, genre-spanning folk tale that balances melancholy with levity. As Daniel notes, “Sometimes the easiest place to find hope is at the bottom of a pint” — a sentiment that resonates through every line and chord of the track.
A striking feature of the track is the line “And the drink is singing” followed by the hypnotic repetition of “Na na na…”. Like the steady pull of alcohol, this chant becomes inescapable, echoing both the comfort and danger of distraction. The chorus embodies the fleeting illusion of joy, reminding listeners how quickly indulgence can become ritual.
The hypnotic chorus captures the tension between indulgence and resilience — a contrast that resonates across Some One’s Sons’ work. Where The Banshee Wall grapples with emigration and the ache of absence, and Paddy O tackles workplace injustice and solidarity, The Chance to Feel Alive confronts alcohol’s double role: companion and captor in a society weighed down by economic strain.
Some One’s Sons are off the back of a summer tour that included two performances at Galway Folk Fest, headlining the Friday night gig rig at Fleadh Cheoil, and three shows at Electric Picnic, including a set on the TodayFM stage. They are now preparing for an upcoming EP release, along with a UK tour in 2026.
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
- Socials: @frazer.live
- @neill.outloud
