Music

If you talk to Billie Eilish, be prepared to hear the truth.

The Oscar-nominee told Vanity Fair she developed her desire to be truthful when she was a kid.   “I try to complain as little as possible, but also be really honest… which is kind of the opposite side of this kind of industry,” she explained. “And growing up as a fan and seeing celebrities and people in the public eye talk, I just always felt like everyone was bulls****ing and I felt like people weren’t telling the truth. And now that I’m in the industry, I know that people aren’t telling the truth almost 95% of the time.”

Billie says she “made it a rule in my own mind of kind of trying to be honest as much as I can.”  However, she admits it’s becoming harder to stick to that vow because “the more eyes that are on me, the less honest I could actually be.”

Billie finds it “sad” that artists cannot be “fully open and honest,” and remarked, “I always hoped that I would be able to be fully, 100% honest and say everything I was thinking all the time, and you just can’t because there’s too many people with different ideas and different brain things going on.”

The “bad guy” singer is looking ahead to the Oscars on April 3, where her 007 theme “No Time to Die” is up for Best Original Song. Discussing the ballad’s unique sound, Billie said she “strived” to make it “feel like me, but take nothing away from the franchise of James Bond… that it had all the Bondness that it needed.”

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Jake Owen dropped the next installment off an as-yet-unannounced new album today, and it’s a deceptively up-tempo song about heartbreak.

Called “Fishin’ on a River,” the song is about a guy who’s got big plans for a day of fishing — that is, until his love interest throws him a curveball by deciding to call it quits.

“I don’t know where it all went wrong / But all I know is that girl’s gone / And a honey hole ain’t gonna help me forget her / So I’m sitting in a bar instead of fishin’ on a river,” Jake sings in the chorus.

Jake says it was that unexpected twist that first made him fall in love with the track, which was written by David Fanning, Cole Taylor and Drew Parker.

“When you first hear the title, you’d think it’s a good ole country anthem about fishin’ with the boys,” he explains. “Instead, it’s a love-done-gone, sway-along track that most everyone can relate. Here’s to the brokenhearted chasing their blues away with Jack and Rye instead of bass and fishing line.”

Jake’s new song follows the release of his current single, “Best Thing Since Backroads.” Keep your eyes peeled for more new music from Jake in the months ahead.

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Trivium frontman Matt Heafy has announced his debut album with Ibaraki, his new black metal side project.

The record is called Rashomon, and is due out May 6. It features the previously released single “Tamashii No Houkai,” as well as just-dropped new tune called “Akumu,” featuring Nergal of Behemoth.

“‘Akumu’ translates to ‘nightmare,'” says Heafy. “With this piece, I encourage the listener to work to find their interpretations of what they feel from the lyrics, music, and the haunting visuals of the music video.”

You can do just that by watching the “Akumu” video streaming now on YouTube.

Another track on Rashomon, titled “Rōnin,” features My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way.

Trivium’s most recent album is 2021’s In the Court of the Dragon. They hit the road in April on the Metal Tour of the Year with Megadeth, Lamb of God and In Flames.

Here’s the Rashomon track list:

“Hakanaki Hitsuzen”
“Kagutsuchi”
“Ibaraki-Dōji”
“Jigoku Dayū”
“Tamashii No Houkai”
“Akumu” feat. Nergal
“Komorebi”
“Rōnin” feat. Gerard Way
“Susanoo No Mikoto” feat. Ihsahn
“Kaizoku”

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Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello and System of a Down‘s Serj Tankian have contributed to a song called “God Help Us All,” in support of The Miraculous Love Kids, an organization that provided music lessons to girls and young women in Afghanistan.

The song, a reworking of Morello’s 2011 The Nightwatchman track of the same name, is being released to raise awareness for the conditions of those girls who are now living under Taliban rule following the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer. The Miraculous Love Kids had recorded “God Help Us All” just weeks before the Taliban takeover, and have been unable to resume activities since.

“It has been a hellish past six months trying to evacuate and relocate the girls and their families,” says the group’s founder, Lanny Cordola. “Tom Morello’s soul hymn perfectly encapsulates this feeling.”

“We appeal to the international community, to diplomats, politicians, news media and art institutions as well as [non-governmental organizations] to respond to this dire situation,” he adds.

“God Help Us All” also features E Street Band and Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren, singer-songwriter Julien Baker, and viral kid music prodigy Nandi Bushell, among many others. It’s streaming now on YouTube.

You can learn more about The Miraculous Love Kids at MiraculousLoveKids.org.

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Twenty One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph has replied to a teenage fan who’d experienced racism within the band’s community.

In a Twitter thread posted last December, a user with the name Chey shared multiple instances of other Twenty One Pilots fans harassing them with anti-Black racial slurs.

“[I’ve] kept my mouth shut on a lot of things because I don’t like bringing negativity to the timeline but as more and more minorities in the fanbase join, this is really becoming out of hand,” Chey wrote. “A lot of y’all’s hatred towards people in particular is racially charged.”

Thursday night, Joseph replied directly to Chey in his own thread, beginning, “I am so sorry about the racism you have experienced recently.”

“I can’t even imagine what that must feel like,” Joseph wrote. “What’s worse is that it will likely happen again at some point. There are terrible people on this earth. Hurtful people. They will hide behind anonymity, they will make you feel small and less than, because the truth is, they are small and less than you.”

“But know this, we care for you, we stand with you,” he continued. “We think you are invaluable to this fan base…I want you to know that the collective whole of this fan base, [drummer] Josh [Dun], and I are with you.”

“Racism is evil and I want this clique to be the most inclusive clique that ever was,” Joseph concluded. “Stay strong.”

Chey later replied, “I’m so thankful thank you for everything and thank you for being here @tylerrjoseph.”

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If you want to listen to Kanye West‘s Donda 2 album, you’re gonna have to use his own technology to do it.

On Thursday, the 44-year-old rapper announced that the sequel to his record-breaking album Donda, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 22, won’t be available to stream via the usual channels.

“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube,” Ye shared in an Instagram post.  To listen, you’ll need a Stem Player, which is being sold for $200. 

He added, “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”

The post included a one-minute video and features one of Ye’s stem players lighting up in sync as a song plays.

In a later post, Ye explained, “You can download new music from stemplayer.com. You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass and music. It also has a MP3 player available.”

“We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day,” he added.

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Megan Thee Stallion is making some real hot girl moves. 

The 27-year-old rapper is set to make her film debut in the movie musical F******* Identical Twins, according to multiple reports, including from Variety, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter. 

Taking to social media, Megan shared a screenshot of the exciting news and wrote, “HOTTIES THIS IS OUR FIRST MOVIEEEE/ MUSICAL! WITH SOME MOVIE LEGENDS.”

“I’m so excited i feel so blessed i feel anxious lol i feel a bunch of s***,” the Grammy winner continued. “I really have been quietly putting in this work and i just cant wait for the hotties to see everything.”

While it’s unclear what Megan’s role will be, she is set to join Saturday Night Live‘s Bowen Yang, two-time Emmy-winner and Will & Grace alum Megan Mullally and Tony-winner Nathan Lane in the R-rated musical comedy, which will be directed by Seinfeld and Borat veteran Larry Charles. 

F******* Identical Twins, as described by THR, “follows two business adversaries who realize they’re identical twin brothers and decide to switch places in order to reunite their divorced parents and become a family again.” 

Production is currently underway. 

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