Acclaimed indie pop band Lucius returns with their highly-anticipated new album Second Nature—set to be released April 8 on Mom + Pop Music (U.S. and Mexico), Dine Alone (Canada), Second Nature Records/Secretly Distribution (RoW). Produced by Dave Cobb and Brandi Carlile, the album features ten new songs, including the first single, “Next To Normal,” which is out today.
In celebration of the album, the band will embark on a North American headline tour this spring followed by a series of European shows in September.
Second Nature is a portrait of singer and songwriters Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe’s shared reflection, chronicling each other’s seismic life shifts—motherhood, divorce, unplanned career pauses—and setting it to music.
“It is a record that begs you not to sit in the difficult moments, but to dance through them,” says Wolfe. “It touches upon all these stages of grief—and some of that is breakthrough, by the way. Being able to have the full spectrum of the experience that we have had, or that I’ve had in my divorce, or that we had in lockdown, having our careers come to a halt, so to speak. I think you can really hear and feel the spectrum of emotion and hopefully find the joy in the darkness. It does exist. That’s why we made Second Nature and why we wanted it to sound the way it did: our focus was on dancing our way through the darkness.”
Of working on the project Carlile shares, “Lucius has been one of my favorite bands since their first studio album. I kept running into them at festivals and finding myself mystified by their power. This album feels like home to me and anyone growing up surrounded by 80s and 90s pop, but somehow Second Nature is the beginning of a new era—not just for Lucius, but for all of us. We need to get back up on our feet and that’s what this album is insisting we do. This is my first co-production with my dear pal Dave Cobb and I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder even to witness something let alone get my hands on it. It was an absolute blast.”
LUCIUS SPRING NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
April 28—North Adams, MA—MASS MoCA
April 29—Boston, MA—Roadrunner
April 30—Portland, ME—State Theatre
May 4—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre*
May 6—Montclair, NJ—The Wellmont Theater*
May 7—Philadelphia, PA—The Fillmore*
May 9—Washington, DC—9:30 Club*
May 12—Raleigh, NC—The Ritz*
May 13—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse*
May 14—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium*
May 16—Louisville, KY—Headliners*
May 17—Cleveland, OH—Beachland Ballroom*
May 18—Toronto, ON—Danforth Music Hall*
May 20—Chicago, IL—Riviera Theatre*
May 21—St. Paul, MN—Palace Theatre*
*with support from Celisse
LUCIUS ON TOUR WITH BRANDI CARLILE
June 11—George, WA—Gorge Amphitheatre
June 24—Los Angeles, CA—The Greek Theatre
July 8—Nashville, TN—Ascend Amphitheatre
July 9—Nashville, TN—Ascend Amphitheatre
September 9—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre
LUCIUS FALL EUROPEAN TOUR
on-sale Friday, January 14
September 17—Dublin, Ireland—Button Factory
September 18—Glasgow, U.K.—St. Luke’s
September 20—Leeds, U.K.—Brudenell Social Club
September 23—London, U.K.—Shepherd’s Bush Empire
September 25—Brussels, Belgium—Grand Salon Botanique
September 26—Paris, France—La Maroquinerie
September 28—Berlin, Germany—Badehaus Szimpla
September 29—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Paradiso Noord
New York trio Sunflower Bean—Julia Cumming (she/her), Nick Kivlen (he/him), and Jake Faber (she/they)—released their sophomore album Twentytwo in Blue in 2018, which skyrocketed to the UK’s Top 40, and quickly followed it with 2019’s King of the Dudes EP, which saw the band’s Triple A debut with “Come For Me.” Since then, the band opened for Bernie Sanders and The Strokes in New Hampshire, Cumming appeared on Yves Tumor’s “Strawberry Privilege,” and the band toured extensively with the likes of Beck, Cage the Elephant, Interpol, Courtney Barnett, and more, while also playing countless festivals internationally.
Now the band returns with their first new material of 2021. Alongside the announcement of new U.S. tour dates, Sunflower Bean release a new song entitled “Baby Don’t Cry.” Written by the band, produced and mixed by UMO’s Jacob Portrait, co-engineered by Jake Faber and Portrait, and recorded between Electric Lady and Sunflower Bean Studios, “Baby Don’t Cry,” out now via Mom + Pop Music, is an exciting taste of what’s to come from Sunflower Bean in 2022.
The band says of the new song, “So many things in our lives are disposable. Content and news is consumed and discarded leaving us unfulfilled. ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ is about enjoying the real. The things right in front of us that give us meaning and how sometimes, even sad songs can give you that warm feeling of hope.”
Courtney Barnett’s new album Things Take Time, Take Time is out November 12 on Mom + Pop Music. Today she releases the track “Write A List Of Things to Look Forward To.”
“Write A List of Things To Look Forward To” takes its name from the technique one of Barnett’s friends advocated for her to get her out of a depressive funk, and paints a bittersweet picture of small wins and the circle of life. “
“I found a deeper communication with people in my life – deeper conversations”, Barnett notes of this new phase. “And a new level of gratitude for friendships that had been there for so long that I had maybe taken for granted”.
The latest track also arrives with a wholesome and heart-warming video by Christina Xing, featuring Barnett as sender and recipient of a series of gifts and letters. @courtneymelba
Sleigh Bells – comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss – are thrilled to announce their sixth album, Texis, set for release on September 10, 2021 on Mom + Pop Music. A new track from the album, entitled “Justine Go Genesis,” has been released today. “Justine Go Genesis” was one of the first songs written for Texis; Miller sent an early demo of the song to Krauss in 2018, feeling excited about its ultra-fast tempo but slightly self-conscious about his cartoonish, over-the-top metal riff. Krauss clicked with the music right away and wrote her bright, unabashedly poppy melody within a few hours of receiving the track, resulting in a song that sounds like the unexpected intersection of Metallica, Spice Girls, and ‘90s drum and bass.
The video for the track, shot on 16mm film and directed by Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell, Queen of Earth, Golden Exits) and Derek Miller with Cinematography by Sean Price Williams (Good Time, …Heaven Knows What), picks up where the band’s video for Texis single “Locust Laced” left off, referencing early 80’s horror films, The Twilight Zone, the band’s own incredible live show, and more. This is the band’s second collaboration with Perry and Williams, who previously worked on the video for “I Can Only Stare”.
Sleigh Bells – comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss – are thrilled to announce their sixth album, Texis, set for release on September 10, 2021 on Mom + Pop Music. The first single from the record “Locust Laced” — a classic slice of Sleigh Bells’ signature controlled chaos that has made them one of the most exciting bands of the last decade — can be heard now. A video for the song, directed by Miller and Kills Birds’ Nina Ljeti, can be seen now as well. The visual features Krauss as a classic country starlet come undone, a perfect complement to the song’s one-two punch of raucous guitar lines and Krauss’s high-octane, anthemic, shout-along chorus.
Their new album, Texis, is the sound of the duo letting go of hang-ups and inhibitions and allowing themselves to embrace the sort of loud, colorful, genre-melting music only they could make. “We stopped worrying about whether or not we’re in or out of our comfort zone, or if we were being repetitive or formulaic,” says Derek Miller. After pushing themselves to sound less obviously “Sleigh Bells” on their 2017 EP Kid Kruschev, he found he’d started to reject a lot of his best creative impulses. On Texis, the duo decided to simply push the first domino and see what would happen, chasing down whatever excitement and inspiration followed; the resulting album is pure fireworks, full of the best songs Sleigh Bells have ever written and recorded.
One of the band’s goals in writing Texis was to infuse even the most abrasive and full-blast songs with something that made the music feel “nourishing” to them. “The thing I’m most attracted to is the juxtaposition of happy and sad, melancholy and hope,” says Miller. “A lot of this is about trying to hold on to a shred of optimism through sheer force of will, and I hope this music can give people some joyful energy and confidence.”
Sleigh Bells will be touring in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 in support of Texis; Kills Birds will be opening on the Fall dates. Track listing and tour dates are below.
Sleigh Bells tour dates:
2021 —
10/5 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre
10/6 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
10/8 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge
10/9 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground
10/10 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage Theater
10/12 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
10/13 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
10/15 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10/17 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
10/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
10/20 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
10/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
10/23 – Oakland, CA – The New Parish
10/26 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
10/27 – Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub
10/28 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
2022 —
2/8 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
2/9 – Cincinnati, OH – The Ballroom at Taft Theatre
Today, alt-rock superstar Courtney Barnett announces her third studio album Things Take Time, Take Time, set to drop November 12th on Mom+Pop Music / Marathon Artists. A sonic collage of deeply personal snapshots of Barnett at a particularly joyful time in her life, it sees her definitively and confidently taking her place in the storied lineage of highly influential and ground-breaking female singer-songwriters, and signals an exciting new phase indeed for a musician who is operating at the very peak of her powers. The lead single is “Rae Street” released today.
Written over two years and recorded towards the end of 2020 and early 2021 between Sydney and Melbourne with producer/drummer Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Cate le Bon, Kurt Vile), Things Take Time, Take Time is yet another assured leap forward for Barnett; a breakthrough really, but not in the ways you might expect. This is Barnett at her most creative, relaxed and yes, happy – an exquisite look at Courtney’s private world, and consequently her most beautiful and intimate record to date, with songs dealing unabashedly with love, renewal, healing and self-discovery.
TRACKLISTING
1. Rae Street
2. Sunfair Sundown
3. Here’s the Thing
4. Before You Gotta Go
5. Turning Green
6. Take it Day By Day
7. If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight
8. Write a List of Things to Look Forward To
9. Splendour
10. Oh the Night
North American Tour
Mon November 29 – Las Vegas, NA @Brooklyn Bowl with Bedouine
Tues December 1 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory with Bedouine
Thurs December 2 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Depot with Bedouine
Sat December 4 – Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren with Bartees Strange
Sun December 5 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park with Bartees Strange
Thu, December 9 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theater at Ace Hotel with Warpaint
Fri December 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Ace with Bartees Strange
Sun December 12 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fox with Bartees Strange
Tues December 14 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount with Bartees Strange
Wed December 15 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
Sat January 22 – Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre with Julia Jacklin
Sun January 23 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre with Julia Jacklin
Tues January 25 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre with Julia Jacklin
Wed January 26 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live with Julia Jacklin
Fri January 28 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman with Julia Jacklin
Sat January 29 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern with Julia Jacklin
Mon January 31 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel with Shamir
Wed February 2 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club with Shamir
Thurs February 3 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club with Shamir
Fri February 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met with Julia Jacklin
Sat February 5 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall with Julia Jacklin
Tues February 8 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre with Shamir
Thurs February 10 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground with Shamir
Fri February 11 – Montreal, QC @ Mtelus with Shamir
Sat February 12 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall with Shamir
Today Beach Bunny releases the first single from their new EP Blame Game coming out on January 15 on Mom + Pop Music. The single is “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used).”
Beach Bunny’s Lil Trifilio says of the song, “As a veteran of engaging with emotionally unavailable people, I wanted to create a sassy song that calls out players by talking down to them as if they were children, showing that poor communication skills and mind games are immature. It shifts the blame to the person that was acting disrespectful, instead of myself. The song also hammers home the point that I know my worth; I’m not afraid to call out players on their stupid behavior and I’m not going to tolerate being thrown around emotionally.”
Blame Game was recorded over a week in Chicago. The EP contains 4 original songs and was produced by Joe Reinhart. The EP can be ordered at https://smarturl.it/BBBlameGame
Lili Trifilio also has a solo project called tiger lili.
Sunflower Bean released their King of Dudes EP in 2019, as a follow-up to their Twentytwo in Blue album in 2018. “Moment in the Sun” is their first new music for 2020 and it is an indie pop song with a wonderful message.
“‘Moment In The Sun’ is about finally recognizing what is important in one’s life, the people you decide to spend it with,” Sunflower Bean explains of the track. “All of these things we distract ourselves with, the neverending mountain of career climbing, the pursuit of financial success, and the hope that after all that trying you could finally be cool. All of that is meaningless in comparison to one great day, hour, or moment with someone you really love.”
The band further explains of the video: “While quarantining together upstate this summer we decided to make a music video for ‘Moment In The Sun.’ We thought the best way to visually represent the meaning of the song, while also taking inspiration from this isolating time everyone has been forced to live in, was to create two separate worlds. One world which exists totally inside a home, mostly in a lonely bedroom. The other world exists completely outside in the sun and is made up of memories of a summer love. We invited Marquis Rodriguez, who is one of Julia’s best friends since high school and also an incredibly talented actor, to co-star in the video. He was crucial in helping us tell the story of summer love and show those potent memories of tenderness coming to life. While living alone, the character Julia is portraying becomes flooded with memories and moments from the past summer, and as a result her bedroom starts to transform into the outdoor world. We built up the entire bedroom using real sod and flowers. Her memories are brought to life, just like the room.”
Spin Magazine