Eddie Vedder is rocking around the clock with his cover of the R.E.M. classic, “Drive.”
The Pearl Jam frontman put his spin on the Automatic for the People opener for the soundtrack to the new film, Flag Day. While Vedder’s version stays true to the slow burning original musically, his baritone vocals give the track a different kind of vibe.
Along with the “Drive” cover, the Flag Day soundtrack includes a number of original Vedder tunes recorded with Irish musician and Once star Glen Hansard, as well as new music from Cat Power. Additionally, the album features the musical debut of Vedder’s daughter, Olivia, who performs songs titled “My Father’s Daughter” and “There’s a Girl.”
Fittingly, Flag Day stars another father-daughter pair: Sean and Dylan Penn. Both the film and its soundtrack are out today.
Motionless in White has premiered a new song called “Timebomb.”
The track certainly lives up to its name, thanks to big guitar riffs and snarling vocals. You can download “Timebomb” now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying sci-fi-themed video streaming now on YouTube.
“Timebomb” is Motionless in White’s first new song of 2021. Last year, the group premiered a track called “Creatures X: To the Grave” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 2010 debut album, Creatures. They also released a cover of The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.”
Motionless in White’s most recent album is 2019’s Disguise, which includes the singles “Another Life” and “Brand New Numb.”
The three-day event takes over XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club at the Wynn Las Vegas October 7-10. In addition to an intimate headlining show, guests will have access to a pool party, secret after party, a skate park and an activation that features some of the superstar’s favorite food and drink pop-ups.
The “Peaches” singer performed at the Wynn in July where he was joined by The Kid LAROI. He and Smith are also featured on Justin’s latest album, Justice, with TroyBoi appearing on one of the alternate editions. Guetta teamed up with the headliner on the 2017 hit song, “2U,” while Kehlani sings with Justin on 2020’s “Get Me.”
Boz Scaggs is featured on a brand-new song by doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll great Dion DiMucci, a grooving blues-rock tune called “I’ve Got to Get to You.”
The track is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, and will be featured on Dion’s next studio album, which is due out in the fall. Scaggs contributes some guest vocals to the song, which also includes the talents of the father and son guitar duo Joe and Mike Menza.
You also can check out a video for “I’ve Got to Get to You” at Dion’s official YouTube channel. The clip mixes scenes of people using all sorts of modes of transportation with footage of Dion and his backing band playing the tune and, separately, of the Menzas jamming out on the song.
Explaining why he wanted to collaborate with Scaggs, Dion notes that Boz “is one of my wife Susan‘s favorite singers, and I’m right there with her.
He continues, “I’ve wanted for decades to record a song with this guy. There’s no mistaking his voice for anyone else’s — and here it is, as pure and clear as ever, on ‘I’ve Got to Get to You.'”
Dion also reveals that he was “inspired to write this song after a conversation with Roy Orbison more than fifty years ago,” adding, “Now that Boz has sung on it, it’s finally done. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Meanwhile, Scaggs says of Dion, “[He’s] one of my favorite singers,” adding about the collaboration, “Our voices are a natural blend.”
Dion’s most recent album, 2020’s Blues with Friends, included appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, The Stray Cats‘ Brian Setzer and more.
Asking Alexandria has announced a new album called See What’s on the Inside.
The seventh studio effort from the U.K. metal outfit will arrive October 1. It’s the follow-up to 2020’s Like a House on Fire, which spawned the singles “Antisocialist” and “They Don’t Want What We Want (And They Don’t Care).”
Our first peek of See What’s on the Inside is a song called “Alone Again,” which is available now for digital download. The track includes a 56-instrumental prelude, which is listed as a separate piece dubbed “Intro” on the record.
Here’s the See What’s on the Inside track list:
“Intro”
“Alone Again”
“Faded Out”
“Never Gonna Learn”
“If I Could Erase It”
“Find Myself”
“You’ve Made It This Far”
“See What’s on the Inside”
“Misery Loves Company”
“Fame”
“The Grey”
Bad news for ARMY. BTS has scrapped plans for their world tour.
Variety reports the group’s label, Big Hit Music, confirmed the news on its Weverse fan platform.
“Our company has worked hard to resume preparations for the BTS Map of the Soul Tour, knowing that all fans have been waiting eagerly and long for the tour,” the statement reads. “Due to changing circumstances beyond our control, it has become difficult to resume performances at the same scale and timeline as previously planned.”
The tour was originally planned for April 2020, but was put on hold due to the pandemic. The label suggests they are looking into different ways of giving fans a BTS performance experience.
“We are working to prepare a viable schedule and performance format that can meet your expectations, and we will provide updated notices as soon as possible,” the statement says.
Demi Lovato announced recently they are non-binary and changed their pronouns to they/them. However, that doesn’t mean that the “Confident” singer will always identify that way.
Appearing at The 19th Represents Summit, Demi opened up about their gender, sharing that it’s “a journey forever.”
“There might be a time where I identify as trans. I don’t know what this looks like for me,” they candidly stated. “There might be a time where I identify as non-binary and gender nonconforming my entire life. Or maybe there’s a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman, I don’t know what that looks like, but for me, in this moment right now, this is how I identify.”
“And I have a feeling that it’s not going to ever go back to one way or the other, but… it’s about keeping it open and free,” Demi added. “I’m a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well.”
The “Tell Me You Love Me” powerhouse also revealed that the pandemic and the demise of their relationship with Max Ehrich was “probably the best thing that’s happened to me” and acted as a catalyst for them.
“I was able to stand on my own two feet without needing someone else to validate me or to make me feel accepted. And when I said goodbye to that relationship, I also said goodbye to everything that was holding me back from being my most authentic self,” Demi shared.
“I really started to identify with close friends and family as non-binary towards the end of last year,” they continued. “And yeah, it was the dissolvement [sic] of all things that had held me back from identifying as the person I do today.”
Lorde‘s third studio effort, Solar Power, is finally here!
The album dropped Friday, and its timing couldn’t be more perfectly tied to the season. The 24-year-old’s tunes are a medley that channels the beach, the ocean, and just the great outdoors. In other words, it’s the perfect album to kick back, relax, and enjoy on a summer day.
Solar Power boasts 12 tracks including the previously released title track, “Solar Power,” as well as “Mood Ring” and “Stoned at the Nail Salon.”
Of the album itself, Lorde says that it’s “a celebration of the natural world,” and “an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors.”
“In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers,” she adds. “I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”
In addition to a CD, the New Zealand native is releasing Solar Power in a brand-new disc-less format. Dubbed “Music Box,” the format features extra visual content, handwritten notes, photos and a download card that includes the album, two bonus tracks and access to what are described as “special surprises.”
“I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD,” Lorde shared in a statement. “I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”
Lorde also announced that she will be kicking off a world tour in 2022. For full tour dates, visit Lorde.co.nz.
Shawn Mendes provided fans a sweet look at how he spent quarantine with girlfriend Camila Cabello in his new single “Summer of Love,” which he released Friday.
The dreamy new track and its accompanying beachy music video arrived just as the sun is beginning to set on summer.
The song opens with Mendes musing about how he and his love would spend the day “tangled in the sheets until the evening” because “there was nowhere to go” before launching into the bouncy chorus that described how those months of solitude enriched him.
“It was the summer of love/ A delicate daydream/ And for a couple of months/ It felt like we were 18/ It was the summer of/ La-la-love,” the three-time Grammy nominee croons over the playful beat.
Mendes, 23, also revealed in the track that he filled his days with “meditation and tequila” and “calling you my señorita” — a throwback to his and Cabello’s steamy 2019 track.
In the sun-kissed music video, Mendes bumps up the nostalgia by palling around Mallorca, Spain, with his group of friends where activities include lounging on a boat, splashing around in the ocean and dancing in a night club.
“Summer of Love” also features reggaetón producer Tainy, whose resume includes producing hits for well-known Latin singers such as Bad Bunny and J Balvin.
Mendes is promoting “Summer of Love” as a non-album single. His last effort, Wonder, arrived last December. Plans for a fifth album have yet to be announced.
For Thomas Rhett, his latest hit, “Country Again,” represents coming back to his roots in more ways than one.
The former ACM Entertainer of the Year confesses the inspiration came after a particularly difficult period, when he was “freaking out,” not knowing what to do since he couldn’t tour or make music, about a month after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My wife [Lauren] was like, ‘Honey, I think you have to just realize that you can’t do this right now. So maybe why don’t you just take a step back and live some life and then go try to write again?'” TR recalls. “And so I literally didn’t write a song for almost two months, which is the longest I’ve ever gone, I think, in my whole life.”
“And when I came back, the very first song I wrote was ‘Country Again,'” he reveals.
That also unleashed the floodgates for a double album, which begins with Country Again: Side A.
“Songs just kind of started flowing out of me,” TR explains. “And I think the writers were kind of on board with this vision.”
“And I think for the first time in a long time,” he continues, “I just was like, ‘What do I want to say? What do I want to write? If this had nothing to do with anything in the world, what would I say if nobody was in here?’ And these are some of the songs that just kind of flowed out of that.”
“And it was a really fun way to, just to be creative and write songs,” he adds.
The Country Again: Side A collection also includes his previous #1, “What’s Your Country Song,” with the new track, “Redneck Be Like,” presumably offering a glimpse into Side B.
