Three years into their life as a band, and Lungs and Limbs have found their stride. Their sophomore EP Big Bang (out December 2) is a six-track collection of confident, spacey synthpop.
The first song "Ricochet" embodies its title, meshing singer Karina Rousseau's fervent vocals with billowy, echoey synths. "Buried" is a starry ode to new wave. And "Less Ordinary," an alt. pop banger, shows off the dynamic chops of the band.
"Big Bang was inspired by our love of writing," says Rousseau. "It's our second release as a band and also the second project produced and engineered by our guitarist Nick Tudor out of our horse stable-turned- recording studio, so it felt to us like a more coherent, developed release. Thematically, "Big Bang" was inspired by death, love, loneliness and psilocybin. Our favorite track is 'Buried,' which has a new-wave Police arrangement mixed with a Sylvan Esso-style production."
Listen to our exclusive premiere of Big Bang ahead of its Friday release below.
Listen to more exclusive tunes by visiting our Premiere page.
Since The xx dropped their debut album, xx, in 2009, the British trio have been embraced by fans all over the world, especially the US. And so they decided to not only pay homage to the country, but also give us their take on what small-town America looks like, in their new visual for "On Hold."
Filmed in Marfa, TX, which is where a fair amount of their upcoming album, I See You, was written and recorded, the band centers the visual on a group of local high school students, their every day musings and culminates in a house party with Jamie xx as the DJ, of course. We also get to see The xx have their own in the town.
The xx say in a statement, “Today we get to share our new video for ‘On Hold’ with you! The video is directed by the brilliant Alasdair McLellan, whose work we all adore...It was filmed in Marfa, Texas, a very special place to us, where we wrote and recorded some of our new album. We have a lot of love and respect for the people of the USA, having played hundreds of shows across the country over the past years. We hope this video reflects just some of the warmth and acceptance we have encountered there.”
I See You drops on January 13, 2017. In the meantime, watch the video below.
Keep up to date with all the best music and entertainment happenings by visiting out News page.
Los Angeles band 9ELECTRIC feels like a fast and furious racecar — from the names of the band (Thunderwood on vocals, Mikey Lopez on guitar, Casey DC on bass and Micah Electric on drums/programming) to their sound, thunderous and grinding rock with a side of electronica, to their debut album, The Damaged Ones. "The album describes the human condition — no one is truly safe, because at some point we're all damaged," says frontman Thunderwood. “With 9ELECTRIC, I really want to create music that makes you feel like you can’t stand still, and I think we’ve achieved that," Micah Electric says.
Bassist Casey DC adds, "The album's title track is about the process of becoming damaged and how it leads to being socially ostracized — a common feeling amongst bands and fans. This has been a theme in rock music for decades, and this song is about how we band together and become part of the rock scene as opposed to the mainstream."
And in the end, 9ELECTRIC is "about empowerment and living with a sense of intention," frontman Thunderwood says. "Whatever you do, do it with some fucking conviction. Make something happen in your life." He talks to Myspace about the band’s evolution.
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Homebase: Hollywood, CA
Why are you called 9ELECTRIC?
Mikey and Micah came up with the name before I joined. They wanted an electronic element in the music, so it seemed to make sense in the name, and the number nine is Mikey's favorite. It also sounds similar to "nine-eleven," so it carries a sense of urgency. I like number nine's esoteric value, where it means the apex of a cycle.
Describe your music to someone who's never heard you before.
Hard rock with an electronic edge.
How did you all meet?
It was really a timing thing — Mikey (guitarist) and Micah (drummer) had a band called My Evolution, and I sang for a band called Opiate for the Masses. Both of our bands had done big tours and worked with big producers but broke up around the same time. Our mutual friend and attorney put us in touch, and I loved their demos and started recording with them ASAP. CaseyDC (bassist) was an old friend of mine and answered Mikey and Micah's Craigslist ad, not knowing that I was already working with them. So nobody really tried out for this band, we all kind of just invited each other in.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
I really like dark and hard-hitting mojo, whether it's the actual music or just the emotional weight of something. Depeche Mode has always been up there for me. Bowie, Ministry, and The Prodigy get me going, too.
Does living in Los Angeles influence your music?
I think all the traffic helps us write the angrier tunes.
Is there anyone you'd love to collaborate with?
I want to collaborate with lots of people — I think we could make a really cool track with Maria Brink from In This Moment.
What do you do for fun?
Besides music? I direct music videos for bands and labels. I'm obsessed with cameras, lenses, and cinematography.
What's the craziest thing that’s happened to you in 9ELECTRIC?
I've had lots of dudes offer me their girlfriends. That's probably the strangest. I suppose it's a nice gesture, but what're you gonna do with that, like, "Cool man, see you in five then?"
Why is your album called The Damaged Ones?
To me, The Damaged Ones means that when all is said and done, no matter who you are or what your advantages or disadvantages are in life, we all end up damaged. It really sums up the human condition, so in that sense it unites us all. The themes on the album are pretty much personal struggles and social commentary.
If you were a hashtag, what would you be?
#Chickentimebomb. We have a song called "Time Bomb" that opens with "I'm like a ticking time bomb" and people always hear it as "chicken time bomb". Little kids have sent us crayon drawings of chickens with bombs strapped to them. Very cute.
What was the most interesting thing you learned about creating your debut album?
I learned that mix is king... our drummer produced a demo that we sent to outside producer Kane Churko (In This Moment, Five Finger Death Punch). We figured we may have to re track everything for the final version, but then we were blown away with what he mixed and sent back to us. The remixed demo ended up being the album version and consequently the title track and first single, "The Damaged Ones." It was a huge epiphany for me about how much an awesome mix can do for your song.
Do you have an awesome Myspace-related story as a musician?
Myspace has been a huge part of my music career; before Myspace, e-mail was the only way to really interact with fans unless you were in their town. Myspace completely changed that dynamic forever. Suddenly they weren't just fans- they were all people you had gotten to know. It's pretty incredible.
How did you end up touring with Drowning Pool? What are you most excited about that tour?
Well for starters, we have the same manager so I'm sure that didn't hurt, haha! Actually I'm really excited for this tour... I first met CaseyDC while his former band Dry Kill Logic and my former band were touring with Drowning Pool. It's gonna be an awesome reunion for us all!
For more profiles on up-and-coming artists, visit our Artist of the Day page.
With the Christmas season well underway, it's time to not only start knocking out a our holiday shopping lists but also see all the great Christmas videos floating around the interwebs. And with the help of director Wes Anderson, H&M's latest visual will definitely make you feel the holiday spirit.
Starring Adrien Brody, the spot, entitled Come Together, feels just like it's a scene from one of Wes' famous films like The Grand Budapest Hotel. The video takes place on Christmas Day, and the conductor, played by Brody, is on a mission to bring the holidays to his passengers.
Watch how it all unfolds below.
Keep up to date with all the best music and entertainment happenings by visiting out News page.
Lady Gaga always wears her heart on her sleeve. However, she really shows her vulnerability in a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning, especially when she talked about what she has been missing since she has been famous.
"I miss people. I miss going anywhere and meeting a random person and saying hi and having a conversation about life. I love people."
She also said, "I'm very acutely aware that once I cross that property line, I'm not free anymore. As soon as I go out into the world, I belong, in a way, to everyone else. It's legal to follow me. It’s legal to stalk me at the beach. And I can't call the police or ask them to leave. And I took a long, hard look at that property line, and I said, 'Well, if I can't be free out there, I can be free in here.'"
Gaga also opened up about the end of her engagement to Taylor Kinney. "I think women love very hard," she explained. "We love men. We just love with everything we have. And sometimes I don't know that that love is met with the type of dignity that we wish it would be met with. You know, we're not trying to make you less of a man. We just want you to love us as deeply and as wholesomely and as fully as we love you."
Watch the full interview below.
Keep up to date with all the best music and entertainment happenings by visiting out News page.
For those looking to save money on blenders, cameras, clothes, laptops and a million other things we love to splurge on during the holidays, Americans invariably turn to Black Friday and Cyber Monday to quench their oversized savings thirst. Luckily, we’ve stumbled through the Cyber Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday dross of discounts to bring you a cautionary tale of the most dreadful deals out there. Buyer beware!
Sharper Image SBT5005 Lava Lamp with Bluetooth Speaker 17.5"
Sale Price: $69.99 Original Price: $100
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 30 who has visited a JCPenney store in the last couple of years. The declining retail giant was once a cornerstone of malls nationwide, but has seen closures in recent years, including seven this calendar year. Naturally, their Cyber Monday Deals leave something to be desired, with the sale items resembling a garage junk sale from 1980. Take this Lava Lamp Bluetooth Speaker for instance. Who’s buying this? Either your super nostalgic uncle, or your 13-year-old son who just put up his first blacklight Bob Marley poster. It’s made by Sharper Image, which, if you’ve ever bought anything from them, you’ll know this self-proclaimed “funkadelic” Bluetooth speaker probably has a life of about three months. This kid's disappointing "I don't know what this is," at the end of the above clip says everything.
Instant Pot IP-LUX60-ENW Stainless Steel 6-in-1 Pressure Cooker with Mini Mitts
Sale Price: $99.95 Original Price: $125.99
I’m no expert, but pressure cookers just sound like a home disaster waiting to happen. They’ve been used by bomb builders in terror attacks in recent years, and even the digital timer on this thing looks like the digital readout from a bomb in a '90s action movie. Even if this thing can cook a whole chicken in under 20 minutes, who needs the stress of having the nuclear bomb version of a Crock-Pot in their kitchen?
Holiday Family Pajamas Snowflake Sleep Pant & Top 2 Piece Sleepwear
Sale Price: $12.97
The family with the pressure cooker in their kitchen is probably the same family wearing these godawful coordinated pajamas. Steer clear of these if your family has any sense of decency.
Crocband™ Holiday Lights Clog
Price: $54.99 Discount: 40% off
Unless you’re someone that purposefully takes bad taste Christmas photos with their goofy self-aware friends, these Holiday themed Crocs should be the last thing you put in your shopping cart on Cyber Monday. Crocs apparently have had the best site wide deals on Cyber Monday for the past three years running, but that doesn’t sweeten the deal for us — because well, they’re Crocs. These “clogs” are so full of festive holiday cheer that the soles light up with each step. What are you, five? Save yourself the sheer embarrassment of wearing these giant rubber watermelons on your feet and thank us later.
I think we’re still a little ways off from the drone future everyone predicted. Most people expected Amazon to have drone deliveries by now, after making an announcement nearly two years ago. Since then, Wal-Mart and Google have entered the fold for potential drone delivery, but we’re still a couple years out from seeing packages delivered via drone. Which leaves the drone consumer market open to weird, fringe hobbyists, and peeping toms. The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition Quadcopter, seems perfect for your 50-year-old neighbor that lives by himself and has a strange obsession with old radios and other weird pieces of antisocial vintage technology. The Quadcopter’s jungle color scheme also gives off some ultra creepy military vibes that are totally unnecessary. Apart from being totally annoying (a simple YouTube search reveals a host of videos of drones being shot down by perturbed citizens) they can be unwieldy, like the time one almost took Enrique Iglesias’ hand clean off. No thanks.
Sales without the Psychopaths Mousepad
Sale Price: $13.15
This mousepad is not technically on sale during Cyber Monday, but it’s sure to quench the thirst of the most ravenous of Cyber Monday shoppers. The pad presumes that people shopping online for Cyber Monday are somehow less psychotic than those shopping on Black Friday. While Monday shoppers might avoid losing a limb at Target, or witnessing a homicide outside of Wal-Mart over a blender, the Cyber Monday super-shopper surely has some skeletons in the closet, figuratively and literally. The toothy grin the mouse is making is vaguely unsettling, and the mouse looks like something you’d find in your company’s old cardboard box of computer gear circa 2008. We’ll pass.
Sheetz Gift Card
Sale Price: $25 Original Price: $30
Sheetz, the most poorly named gas station fast food spot in America, has claimed in a recent advertising campaign that “fries are the new lettuce.” As much as we want to get behind this, we just can’t look beyond the easy-target name and myriad possibilities of bad puns it presents. Ebay is selling $30 Sheetz gift cards for $25, which seems like a pretty good deal, but one look at the menu will have you thinking otherwise. Reading like a combination of every worst fast food joint combined (think Green Burrito meets Papa John’s meets Carl’s Jr meets 7-Eleven meets PopEyes meets Subway), most items on the menu are bound to have you asking your local pentecostal priest for forgiveness. There are a ton of other discounted gift cards around this Cyber Monday, so spare yourself a case of the sheetz and feel good about food again.
BetterBack
Price: $59.00 Discount: 35% off (with Forbes promo code)
If this were a giant fruit slingshot made for real life Fruit Ninja, maybe we could see a reason to shell out 60 bucks. The BetterBack is infomercial fodder and one of the most cumbersome and embarrassing things you could ever choose to strap on yourself in a public place. Goes hand in hand with people with a gluten intolerance.
