The leadup to alt-pop trio Valley’s new album Water The Flowers, Pray For a Garden has been thrilling, culminating in an international tour at the end of September that runs through mid-November. Their new track “Bass Player’s Brother” – to be included in the August 30th full-length release – is about a toxic relationship that can’t seem to find its end. The sound is everything you would hope for from a summer anthem, with words that cut a little deeper.
Valley approached the song in a vulnerable moment after being stranded in North Carolina. They built up the composition to sound as upbeat and fun as possible. This is reflected in the optimistic nature of the track, despite the song really being rooted in heartbreak. They returned to their roots and a carefree attitude in this song, which makes it come alive as a standalone from the upcoming album.
Explains the band:
‘Bass Player’s Brother’ is a song about cyclical love and obsession. In life we often find ourselves in realities that don’t suit our truth, yet we continue to drag ourselves back to the feeling of staying for love’s sake. It’s cyclical in nature yet rooted in heartache and hurt. It’s the back-and-forth outcome of these habits that cause us to stay when we know we should leave. This is the only song on the album where we didn’t reference real names. Sometimes we like to play characters in songs even though we’re always thinking about someone in our lives. We wanted to paint a picture of a classic Americana heartbreak love story.
Don’t forget to pre-save and pre-orderWater The Flowers, Pray For a Garden, out August 30th.
Detroit’s rock scene is getting set ablaze! We Are Scorpio, the fierce duo of Jessica Care moore and Steffanie Christi’an, have dropped their latest single “Scorpio” like a meteor crashing into the music world. This song is a battle cry for diversity in rock and a poetic punch to the gut of the status quo.
“We are the storm, the fury in your eyes,” howls the chorus, and believe us, this is no empty threat. We Are Scorpio comes armed with searing guitars, thunderous rhythms, and lyrics sharp enough to cut through the noise of a thousand pretenders. The track pulsates with the duality of its namesake sign – at once fierce and magnetic, confrontational and alluring.
Forget your typical rock fare. We Are Scorpio serves up a potent cocktail of spoken word and hard-hitting riffs that’ll leave you dizzy. “This is no place for ordinary,” they declare, daring listeners to step out of their comfort zones. From family dinner rebellions to cosmic contemplations, “Scorpio” weaves the personal and universal into a tapestry of empowerment.
Make no mistake – this is more than music. It’s a revolution. Jessica Care moore, Steffanie Christi’an, and featured artist Militia Vox are here to remind us that Black women aren’t just part of rock’s history – they are its future. Their collaboration isn’t just fresh; it’s necessary, proving that rock thrives when it embraces diverse voices and experiences.
Mark your calendars, rock fans. Their self-titled album, co-produced by none other than Talib Kweli, crashes onto the scene on August 16 via Javotti Media. Want a taste of the venom live? Catch We Are Scorpio at the Black Bottom Live Music Series (August 7) and the 20 Years of Black Women Rock! celebration at The Fillmore (August 31).
Don’t just stand there – dive into the storm! Stream “Scorpio” now on all major platforms and pre-order the album that’s set to redefine rock. We Are Scorpio isn’t just making music; they’re crafting an experience. Miss this, and you’re missing history in the making. Are you ready to embrace the sting?
Chamber-rock indie band Cloud Cult from St. Cloud, Minnesota has just released their newest song “The Universe Woke Up As You” and it is a philosophical masterpiece. The song consists of Craig Minowa as the band’s lead vocalist and songwriter, Jeremy Harvey on the drums, Shannon Frid-Rubin on the violin, Sarah Perbix and Aurora Minowa as backup vocals, and Daniel Zamzow on the cello. Minowa recorded the song in the midst of a divorce, in the Wisconsin woods. Minowa was able to process his grief through music and regain control over his perspective on life with this song.
“The Universe Woke Up As You” came out as part of their Alchemy Creek album, due to come out on August 8th. This full-length studio album is made possible by Earthology Records, the band’s own record label created by Minowa himself. A really interesting fact is that Cloud Cult’s efforts to create music, advertise their band, and tour in the most sustainable ways possible have earned them a spot in “Top 10 Green Bands” by Rolling Stone in 2009.
Both the melody and lyrics of the song are melancholic and very reminiscent of the past. The feminine background vocals provide wonderful harmony to Minowa’s soft-spoken singing. In the end, a beautiful violin solo pulls the song to a close. In my opinion, the musicality of this song reminds me of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”, mirroring its soothing vocals which convey a surprisingly depressing message. This 5-minute song is a great way to wind down after a long, hard day.
At the beginning of the song, Minowa can be heard whispering the intro, which makes the intended audience and all who listen feel small. The lyrics tell a story of hopeless nostalgia. Minowa reminisces about simpler times when he was a kid, and implies that things are much more difficult now as an adult having to deal with this “skull-sized hell.” Personally, my favorite verse of the song is:
Gonna draw myself a picture of the way things were What is real and what is fantasy? Well, I really can’t be sure There’s so much here to feel, well, it’s all just a blur Gonna draw myself a picture of the way things were
By the end, Minowa explodes into something bigger as he yells the title of the song “Today the universe woke up as you!” This piece depicts an interesting message of how one can control one’s own perception of time, space, and reality.
The accompanying music video starts with Minowa in front of a camcorder. It is apparent that the set takes place in some type of storage unit, giving the video a quickly-made unplanned feel. Behind him is the back of a garage door; on the camcorder screen, however, it is clear that the video editors have added a green screen to the background. The family-friendly vibe of the song is enforced by children acting as a film crew. For what seems low-budget, this video is a perfect visual for the song. “The Universe Woke Up As You” can be watched on YouTube here.
You can follow Cloud Cult on their own well-cultivated website. You can also subscribe to their Patreon, where they rank as one of the top content creators on the platform. Cloud Cult will be touring later this summer, headlining at the People Fest in Yuba, WI on August 9th. Be sure to catch them live before their last performance on September 28th at the Palace Theater in St. Paul, MN.
One of the most prominent and influential sounds in American music has been soul. It’s been a mainstay in the hearts of listeners for decades now. Soul has a place in most people’s daily listening, whether it’s classic ballads from the Motown era, 80s R&B from Prince or Michael Jackson, or more contemporary soul with modern hip-hop/R&B styling from Frank Ocean or Silk Sonic. Even if you don’t consider yourself someone who listens to very much soul, it’s a style that’s influenced everything in terms of how musicians lay out rhythms and melodies or how vocalists approach more (ahem) soulful singing styles.
This playlist from Imperfect Fifth is a well-curated collection of modern soul from about the past 15 years. It includes soothing soft ballads with light orchestrations, mid-tempo funk with some swinging rap-inspired grooves, or more emotional songs dripping with passion and sentimentality. A lot of it contains modern songs that try to capture the atmosphere and production that classic soul music has, while some of it tries to update it with more contemporary sounds.
Either way, they’re all quality tracks with something unique to offer, featuring songs from artists like Childish Gambino, Steve Lacy, and Leon Bridges. You can check out the playlist in the early morning as the sun is rising, a lazy Sunday while snuggled in bed, or just any moment you want to feel calm and carefree. It’s an easygoing listen of 30 songs that demand nothing but your purest content.
Bernie Worrell is one of many unsung heroes in music history. If you’re unfamiliar with him, he was the keyboardist for the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic collective and played with other artists such as Les Claypool of Primus, rapper Mos Def, and even Talking Heads, appearing in their seminal concert film Stop Making Sense. Not only is he a legend in funk music, but his work as a synth pioneer makes him a godfather of contemporary R&B and hip-hop. Worrell’s funky keyboard playing has been sampled thousands of times and was highly critical in creating the early 90s rap subgenre “G-funk” popularized by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Recently, Bernie Worrell’s estate announced the release of a posthumous album titled Wave From The WOOniverse, a double album of previously unfinished tracks. A murderer’s row of great talent helped to complete and produce the album, all of which had previously worked with Bernie Worrell. This includes Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, Fred Schneider of The B-52’s, Will Calhoun of Living Colour, Sean Ono Lennon, and funk legends in their own right like Bootsy Collins and Fred Wesley.
Obviously, you can imagine that the album is filled to the brim with great grooves and danceable funk, and you’d be entirely right. Wave From The WOOniverse functions not only as a loving tribute to one of R&B’s most influential and overlooked personnel but also to a generation of classic funk originators. The love for Worrell’s work and the funk he helped create is always visibly present in each collaborator on the album. Every song is layered with bass, synth, horns, and heavy guitars, yet it’s never sloppily done and always well-calculated. Every instrument is tightly constructed into a well-orchestrated rhythm that flows in perfect harmony with the others. The backing band here is great, and each song has a distinct identity from one another while still focusing on never-ending grooves. WOOniverse’s tracklist has a decent amount of variety, ranging from upbeat party songs (“Distant Star”, “What Have They Done to My Funk”), vintage psychedelic funk (“Soldiers of the Stars”), world music excursions (“Re-Enter Black Light”, “When the Rain Subsides”), and lengthy band jams (“Greenpoint”, “Pedro WOO”).
My favorites included “Soldiers of the Stars”, a wonderful piece of Jimi Hendrix-type acid funk rock that could easily fit as an early Funkadelic song, “The Big WOO”, which is so enjoyably campy with Fred Schneider and a swinging rhythm section, and “When the Rain Subsides”, which features a sunny Afropop-inspired sound with soukous/highlife guitars and warm and lively percussion throughout. I also enjoyed “Heapin’ Bowl of Gumbo”, which has a slower and more controlled funk rhythm but comes out super slinky. Many of the songs appear built out of lengthy band jams with lots of improvisations, which would make sense considering the musical virtuosos involved. However, this leads to most of the songs being at least five minutes, which may not work for more impatient listeners. I like longer funk songs in this mold because it gives the musicians more of a chance to build off rhythms and complement one another, leading to a more satisfying listen. Admittedly, the length can hurt a few songs such as the jazzy noir track “Greenpoint”, which is eight minutes long and doesn’t have enough juice to justify its length. The biggest turnoff for some will definitely be the 18-minute-long penultimate track, titled “Transcendence”. I’m always down for musicians making something willfully self-indulgent, and while this psychedelic multi-part suite has rich production and a full orchestra backing, it never quite comes together. At least, it didn’t for me–perhaps having psychedelics of my own would’ve helped.
Even as overstuffed as it is, Wave From The WOOniverse is a respectfully made posthumous release that carries on the legacy of Bernie Worrell. It’s worth a listen for longtime fans of Parliament-Funkadelic and other classic R&B or even for newcomers in search of some killer funk.
It’s somewhat daunting to review something so intentionally provocative and hedonistic like the music of The Dare, the pseudonym of New York-based musician Harrison Patrick Smith. His work is a revival of the genre “indie sleaze”, a hipster style and subculture that includes artists like LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture, and aesthetically mixes 70s punk fashion with the unapologetic tackiness of early 2000s pop culture. I remember hearing his first single, 2022’s “Girls”, and being taken aback by how loose and unrestrained it was, for better or for worse, with its electroclash synths, and Smith’s aggressive loud-mouthed personality. Part of The Dare’s appeal (or turnoffs, depending on who you ask), is the way his music celebrates being raunchy and trashy in a way that makes it fun and inviting. Though I’d say his persona is done with enough of a wink to let you know it’s an ironic character rather than a genuine reflection of Smith himself. If it were more sincere, it likely would have impacted his growing success Last year, he released The Sex EP and recently opened for Yves Tumor and Charli XCX, also collaborating with the latter on “guess”, a bonus track on her monstrously successful new album brat.
The Dare’s new single, “Perfume”, is a teaser for his debut album What’s Wrong With New York?, to be released on September 6th of this year. It continues the sound of his previous work, with vocals still sounding like a snottier James Murphy and heavy techno beats, but it’s remarkable how Smith balances being in-your-face while also being charismatic and likable. “Perfume” is a lot of the same rave-worthy indie sleaze that listeners would come to expect from The Dare, but it shows him growing into a more developed and confident sound that breaks down the barriers between punk and dance music. It begins with a similar drum machine club pattern of “Girls” or “Good Time”, but quickly becomes an entirely different beast with heavy guitars, glitchy percussion, and pulsating synthesizers. It’s only two-and-a-half minutes, but it stays a complete blast throughout, succeeding as another song by The Dare that encapsulates all the best parts of a riotous late-night club atmosphere. Considering that he only has 5 released songs to his name so far, all consistent quality, I’m eager to see where his career will go next.
