Music

After working with The National‘s Aaron Dessner on her 2020 albums folklore and evermore, Taylor Swift is continuing to collaborate with the alternative world on her next, highly-anticipated album, Midnights.

The pop superstar has been slowly revealing the track list for Midnights during #MidnightsMayhemwithMe TikTok series, in which she randomly chooses a song from 13 bingo balls. The final track name to be unveiled is “Snow on the Beach,” which features Lana Del Rey.

“Snow on the Beach” is track four on Midnights, and, according to the Apple Music listing, comes with an “explicit lyrics” warning.

You’ll get to hear exactly what a Lana Del Swift duet sounds like when Midnights drops on October 21.

Swift has also previously collaborated with HAIM, and has frequently worked with Jack Antonoff. The Bleachers frontman is also producing Midnights.

Del Rey, meanwhile, is coming off her two-album 2021, which featured the release of Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters.

In addition to working on a song together, both Del Rey and Swift inspired classes taught at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute.

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Måneskin has premiered a new single called “The Loneliest.”

The track finds frontman Damiano David calling out to someone he’s lost, singing, “You’re still the oxygen I breathe/I see your face when I close my eyes/It’s tortuous/Tonight is gonna be the loneliest.”

In the song’s accompanying lyric video, streaming now on YouTube, we see the Italian rockers standing solemnly while wearing black, suggesting they’re at a funeral.

You can listen to “The Loneliest” now via digital outlets.

“The Loneliest” follows Måneskin’s May single “Supermodel,” which hit #1 on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.

Meanwhile, Måneskin will launch their first-ever North American headlining tour Halloween night in Seattle.

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Jimmie Allen’s quickly working his way into multiple hyphenate status as a singer, Dancing With the Stars contestant and children’s book author — and now he’s adding “pro bowler” to his resume.

The singer hosted his own Jimmie Allen PBA Challenge Presented by Bowlero earlier this week in North Carolina, bringing together some of his talented pals to hit the lanes with professional bowlers.

Among the amateur bowlers were rapper Nelly, comedian Hannibal Burress, famed NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens and country duo Neon Union. Of course, the pros showed up too: Professional Bowlers Association stars Bella Castillo, Kyle Troup, Sean Rash, Ronnie Russell and AJ Johnson all turned out to play.

It’s no secret that Jimmie loves to bowl — he says it’s a passion he developed during the COVID-19 pandemic — and he’s continuing to pursue the sport, even hoping to join the PBA in 2023.

If you’re wondering how Jimmie’s playing stacked up against those bowling greats, you won’t have to wait too much longer to find out: the event will be televised on Fox on October 16. Jimmie rounded out the evening with a performance, sharing the stage with Neon Union and fellow country star Chris Young.

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Taylor Swift has revealed the final five track titles of her new album Midnights during the last installments of her #MidnightsMayhemwithMe TikTok series.

“Tonight we mayhem til the morning!” Taylor captioned her first TikTok post of the evening, where she revealed the title of track one is called “Lavender Haze.”

On Instagram, Taylor explained that she first heard the phrase in an episode of Mad Men and it means to be in an all-encompassing kind of love. The song, she says, is also about doing whatever you can to protect that feeling.

“Like, my relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it,” Taylor explains of her relationship with Joe Alywn. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”

Taylor also revealed the title of the much-anticipated track five – typically her albums’ most significant song – is “You’re on Your Own, Kid.” And in subsequent TikTok videos throughout the night, she rounded out the rest of the track list: track 10 is “Labyrinth,” track 12 is called “Sweet Nothing” and track four is titled “Snow on the Beach” and it features Lana Del Rey.

Here is the complete track list for Midnights, due out October 21:

1. “Lavender Haze”

2. “Maroon”

3. “Anti-Hero”

4. “Snow on the Beach” feat. Lana Del Rey

5. “You’re on Your Own, Kid”

6. “Midnight Rain”

7. “Question…?”

8. “Vigilante S***”

9. “Bejeweled”

10. “Labyrinth”

11. “Karma”

12. “Sweet Nothing”

13. “Mastermind”

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Culture Con, a premiere destination for creators of color, entrepreneurs and young professionals, returns to New York City on Saturday, October 8, for a day full of activations, conversations, workshops and more. 

Widely known as “The Ultimate Creative Homecoming,” the highly anticipated conference made stops in Los Angeles and Atlanta earlier this year. Attendees were able to participate in Culture Con Week in NYC from October 2-7 for an advance glimpse of all to come during the main event. 

On Saturday, presenting partner HBO will host VIP and talent lounges; Strong Black Lead, Netflix’s Black sub-brand, will lead a conversation on cultural storytelling; and TikTok will discuss Black creators and the real-world impact of Black TikTok on culture. 

Taraji P. Henson, Lena Waithe, Meagan Good, Tracee Ellis Ross, Terrance J, Angie Martinez and Winston Duke are among the more than 75 guest speakers and celebrities who will participate in conference panels and discussions.

An already much-talked-about part of the conference, actors Nia Long and Larenz Tate will reunite to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the beloved classic film Love Jones.

Culture Con is a division of The Creative Collective NYC, a vision born out of founder Imani Ellis‘ desire to build community and assemble a collaborative space for Black and brown creatives to engage with one another. 

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It may not be surprising that a band called Death Cab for Cutie would sing about dying — it’s in their name, after all — but you may not expect them to do it with such cheeriness.

The “Soul Meets Body” group’s current single, “Here to Forever,” finds frontman Ben Gibbard musing that all the actors in movies he watches from the ’50s “are all dead now.” And if you didn’t hear it the first time, Gibbard repeats the line “They’re all dead now” with a warm, exuberant harmony from his bandmates.

Speaking with ABC Audio, bassist Nick Harmer shares that mismatching the tones of lyrics and the music within songs has long been a Death Cab staple.

“I think that one thing that we’ve done in this band, and certainly sonically, and we’ve kind of explored in our songs, is kind of this juxtaposition between either a heavy emotional content with more uplifting or lighter music or uplifting music with a darker, emotional lyrical content,” Harmer shares.

With “Here to Forever” specifically, that juxtaposition seems to be working, as the track currently sits at #2 on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart, the highest ranking any Death Cab song has had on the tally since 2015’s “Black Sun.”

“I think we kind of like how those things can kind of push and pull against one another from an emotional place,” Harmer says. “[We] look for those moments where we can kind of highlight the sort of light and darkness at the same time.”

“Here to Forever” appears on the new Death Cab album Asphalt Meadows, which is out now.

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Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem stars in the new movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, featuring Shawn Mendes as the voice of the titular reptile. Bardem says Shawn’s involvement was definitely a selling point for him to take the job — once his kids weighed in.

Bardem tells ABC Audio he wanted to make a movie that his kids could see for a change. He says, “When I told them about making a movie with a crocodile that sings and dances, and that I walk around the streets of New York with him, and that it’s done with the voice of Shawn Mendes, they were like, ‘What are you waiting for? I mean, just go there and do it, dad!'”

“We all love him!” Bardem says of Shawn.

In the movie, Bardem plays Lyle’s owner, Hector P. Valenti, and sings a duet, “Take a Look at Us Now,” with Shawn.

So, did Shawn give Bardem, who sang in the Oscar-nominated movie Being the Ricardos, any vocal tips?

“No! I mean, it’s impossible to give me any tips!” Bardem laughs. “I mean…there is nothing that can really help me to sing better!” He notes that when it came to his and Shawn’s duet, “It took me a while to bring the song together, while he could do it in a second, you know what I’m saying?” 

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is in theaters Friday. The soundtrack, which is available now, features a new original song by Shawn, “Heartbeat,” plus songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar and Tony-winning duo who brought you the tunes in La La Land, The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen. Classics including Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock,” Stevie Wonder‘s “Sir Duke” and The Gap Band’s “Steppin’ Out” round out the album.

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If you ever come across Serj Tankian in public, maybe don’t yell “Wake up!” at him.

In an interview with Revolver, the System of a Down frontman shares that fans will often shout the “Chop Suey!” lyric if they see him out and about.

“People will scare the s*** out of me when they yell ‘Wake up!’ behind me somewhere — wherever, in public,” Tankian laughs. “I’m like, ‘F*** dude! Really? Wow … I’m glad you’re excited but don’t do that.'”

In addition to trying to avoid screams of “Wake up,” Tankian is gearing up to release a new EP called Perplex Cities. The five-track collection arrives October 21, though Tankian has been previewing songs from the EP via the augmented reality app Arloopa.

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