Join Bad Wolves in “penning a letter to your personal demons” with new album, ‘Dear Monsters’

Join Bad Wolves in “penning a letter to your personal demons” with new album, ‘Dear Monsters’
Join Bad Wolves in “penning a letter to your personal demons” with new album, ‘Dear Monsters’
Credit: Jim Louvau

Bad Wolves‘ new album Dear Monsters marks their first with new lead singer Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz. On his debut record with the band, DL hopes you’ll join him in “penning a letter to your personal demons.”

“Whether it’s waking up in the morning and dreading going to work because you hate your boss, or you are going to a doctor’s appointment for a follow-up and finding out if you have some kind of illness or not, everybody has some kind of demon, personal monster,” DL tells ABC Audio of the album’s message.

It’s a universal theme, to be sure, but DL, who joined Bad Wolves earlier this year in place of former frontman Tommy Vext, found himself relating to Dear Monsters on a individual level.

“It’s a big change for me,” DL says of his new gig. “Not touring for 10-plus years, having loved ones, wife, kids, it’s just very different. I’m not an 18 year old dude in a metal band anymore.”

“I had to even confront my own personal monsters coming into this role,” he adds.

Much of what would become Dear Monsters was written before DL’s arrival, but his voice allowed him to put his own personal stamp on the record. He also contributed to the writing process with songs such as “Springfield Summer,” which refers to the name of his Massachusetts hometown.

“That song in particular touches loosely on my role coming into this band,” DL says. “It just ties into everything going on in my head walking into this role.”

“With all the things going on, it’s just been a crazy ride so far, for sure,” he says.

Dear Monsters, which features the lead single “Lifeline,” is out this Friday.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABBA’s main men swear that after the release of their new album, “This is it”

ABBA’s main men swear that after the release of their new album, “This is it”
ABBA’s main men swear that after the release of their new album, “This is it”
Credit: Ludvig Andersson

ABBA‘s comeback album Voyage comes out next week, but even though the group is involved with the staging of its upcoming virtual concert experience in London, don’t expect any more new music from them.

That’s the word from the group’s main men, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.  Speaking to the British paper The Guardian, they explain that they wrote two songs that didn’t make it onto the Voyage album, but they didn’t finish them, and so they won’t be released. “This is it,” Benny says. “It’s got to be, you know.”

Referring to the group’s breakup nearly 40 years ago, Benny adds, “I didn’t actually say that ‘this is it’ in 1982. I never said myself that ABBA was never going to happen again. But I can tell you now: this is it.” Bjorn agrees, saying, “Yeah.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean no more ABBA, period. The virtual show will play in London starting next spring and The Guardian notes that the lease on the purpose-built theater is for four-and-a-half years. In addition, the paper reports that there are “vague plans to build other theaters in other cities” so people outside the U.K. can see it more easily.

The four members of ABBA — Bjorn, Benny, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog — spent hours being motion-captured to create the show, which will feature de-aged digital “avatars” performing their hits, backed by a live 10-piece band and other effects. Asked if it’s weird to see themselves digitally de-aged, Bjorn says no.

“You have to realize that we are confronted by our younger selves all the time on television, in pictures and all of that….It’s completely natural,” he says. “Everyone should have their own avatar.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Elvis Costello to release new album with The Imposters, ‘The Boy Named If,’ in January

Elvis Costello to release new album with The Imposters, ‘The Boy Named If,’ in January
Elvis Costello to release new album with The Imposters, ‘The Boy Named If,’ in January
EMI/Capitol Records

Elvis Costello will greet 2022 with a new studio album that he recorded with his longtime backing group The Imposters called The Boy Named If.

The 13-track collection, which will be released on January 14, is described in a press statement as an album “of urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, guitar solos that sting and a quick step to the rhythm.”

Costello explains about the project, “The full title of this record is The Boy Named If (And Other Children’s Stories). ‘IF’ is a nickname for your imaginary friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own.”

The Boy Named If will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette and digital formats. There also will be “an 88-page hardback storybook edition,” each copy of which will be signed and numbered by Elvis.

The storybook edition features 13 illustrated short stories that have the same titles as the album’s songs and relate to the corresponding tunes in some way. The stories feature the lyrics of the songs, and the illustrations were created by artist Eamon Singer.

In advance of The Boy Named If, one of the tracks, “Magnificent Hurt,” has been released as a digital single.

Costello has been quite busy since the start of the pandemic. He released his last studio album, Hey Clockface, in October of 2020, followed in March 2021 by La Face de Pendule à Coucou, an EP featuring French-language versions of six songs from Hey Clockface sung by Iggy Pop, actress Isabelle Adjani and others.

In September, Elvis released Spanish Model, a Spanish-language version of his 1978 album This Year’s Model showcasing various guest singers.

Here’s The Boy Named If‘s full track list:

“Farewell, OK”
“The Boy Named If”
“Penelope Halfpenny”
“The Difference”
“What If I Can’t Give You Anything but Love?”
“Paint the Red Rose Blue”
“Mistook Me for a Friend”
“My Most Beautiful Mistake” (guest vocal by Nicole Atkins)
“Magnificent Hurt”
“The Man You Love to Hate”
“The Death of Magic Thinking”
“Trick Out the Truth”
“Mr. Crescent”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Listen to new WALK THE MOON song, “Rise Up”

Listen to new WALK THE MOON song, “Rise Up”
Listen to new WALK THE MOON song, “Rise Up”
Credit: Grant Spanier

WALK THE MOON has premiered a new song called “Rise Up,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, HEIGHTS.

“‘Rise Up’ arose partly out of a long sleepless night alone in the studio, stacking vocals on vocals until the track sounded like something off of Queen‘s A Day at the Races,” says vocalist Nicholas Petricca. “The song is about how nobody’s perfect and perseverance is universal, and I guess I needed a thousand singing voices to really get that across.”

You can download “Rise Up” now via digital outlets. It’s also accompanied by a video WTM filmed while on tour in Santa Clara, California, which you can watch now on YouTube.

HEIGHTS, the follow-up to 2017’s What If Nothing, arrives November 12. It also includes the lead single “Can You Handle My Love??”

(Video contains uncensored profanity.) 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kid Cudi drops trailer for his documentary, ‘A Man Named Scott’

Kid Cudi drops trailer for his documentary, ‘A Man Named Scott’
Kid Cudi drops trailer for his documentary, ‘A Man Named Scott’
Amazon Prime Video

Kid Cudi reflects on the joy of his career, and the depression he suffered for five years, in the trailer for his upcoming documentary, A Man Named Scott, which dropped Tuesday.

Born Scott Mescudi, the 37-year-old rapper reveals that the goal of his music is to “help people in some way. How can I make something that calls out to the broken and the lost.”

Cudi’s 2008 debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, was certified double-platinum. He’s won two Grammys, and recorded with a who’s who of hip hop during his 13 year career, including Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige. Yet despite his success, he admits there was a time when he was broken and lost. Cudi had suicidal thoughts for five years.

“I had a hard time dealing with the adjustment from being Scott to being Kid Cudi,” he admits. “People look at me, but I’m not a happy person. I felt like a fraud. That’s what drove me to escape reality.”

Cudi became an alcoholic, and suffered an emotional breakdown in 2013. Since then, he’s turned his life around.

“I sacrifice my privacy and put my life out there to help others,” he says. “That’s always been my mission.”

The Cleveland rapper recorded a song with Jay-Z for the soundtrack of The Harder They Fall, the new Netflix western, co-produced by Hova, starring Idris Elba and Regina King. His eighth solo album, Entergalactic, is set to be released in 2022.

A Man Named Scott will premiere November 5 on Amazon Prime Video.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Macklemore’s daughter wishes his new song featured Taylor Swift or Adele

Macklemore’s daughter wishes his new song featured Taylor Swift or Adele
Macklemore’s daughter wishes his new song featured Taylor Swift or Adele
Getty Images/Getty Images for All In WA

Macklemore’s daughter thinks his music could use a little more Taylor Swift and Adele.

In a funny video posted to the rapper’s Instagram page, his six-year-old daughter Sloane listens to his new single “New Year” and gives her brutally honest critique.

“Not your best but I still love ya,” she says, before giving a series of suggestions for who he should have collaborated with on the track. She asks her dad, “Do you know Camila Cabello?” “Did you ask Taylor Swift to get on this song?” “Adele wasn’t feeling this?”

“Adele and Taylor Swift would be great…” she adds. But perhaps to save her dad a bruised ego, she does end on a positive note, saying, “I think it’s really great.”

“I [used] to think I was my own worst critic…Then I had kids,” Macklemore captions the clip.

“New Year” comes out on Friday.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

ABBA’s main men swear after release of their new album, “This is it”

ABBA’s main men swear after release of their new album, “This is it”
ABBA’s main men swear after release of their new album, “This is it”
ABBA in studio; credit: Ludvig Andersson

ABBA‘s comeback album Voyage comes out next week, but even though the group is involved with the staging of its upcoming virtual concert experience in London, don’t expect any more new music from them.

That’s the word from the group’s main men, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.  Speaking to the British paper The Guardian, they explain that they wrote two songs that didn’t make it onto the Voyage album, but they didn’t finish them, and so they won’t be released.  “This is it,” Benny says. “It’s got to be, you know.”

Referring to the group’s breakup nearly 40 years ago, Benny adds, “I didn’t actually say that ‘this is it’ in 1982. I never said myself that ABBA was never going to happen again. But I can tell you now: this is it.”  Bjorn agrees, saying, “Yeah.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean no more ABBA, period. The virtual show will play in London starting next spring and The Guardian notes that the lease on the purpose-built theater is for four-and-a-half years. In addition, the paper reports that there are “vague plans to build other theaters in other cities” so people outside the U.K. can see it more easily.

The four members of ABBA — Bjorn, Benny, Anni-Frid and Agnetha — spent hours being motion-captured to create the show, which will feature de-aged digital “avatars” performing their hits, backed by a live 10-piece band and other effects.  Asked if it’s weird to see themselves digitally de-aged, Bjorn says no.

“You have to realize that we are confronted by our younger selves all the time on television, in pictures and all of that….It’s completely natural,” he says. “Everyone should have their own avatar.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Judge gives Kodak Black permission to perform at Rolling Loud New York

Judge gives Kodak Black permission to perform at Rolling Loud New York
Judge gives Kodak Black permission to perform at Rolling Loud New York
Atlantic Records

Kodak Black is being allowed to perform Friday at the Rolling Loud festival in New York City.

The “Zeze” rapper, who is now in a court ordered drug treatment program, was granted permission by a judge, as long as he remains in contact with his Supervised Release Officer, TMZ reports. The three-day festival kicks off Thursday, headlined by Travis Scott, J. Cole. and 50 Cent.

In September, Kodak was ordered to complete a 90-day treatment program after violating the terms of his release by failing his drug tests. He was recently granted permission to spend 30 of those 90 days outside the state of Florida.

Kodak was released from prison back in January after being pardoned by Donald Trump. He was arrested in April 2019 for weapons and drug possession and was serving a 46 month sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges he falsified information while attempting to purchase guns in Miami

In April, Black avoided going back to prison after he agreed to a plea deal for a sexual assault charge in South Carolina in 2016. He received 18 months probation and must attend counseling sessions.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and on Tuesday, Kodak hosted an event in Miami to honor survivors of breast cancer, and women currently fighting the disease. More than 20 women were given wigs and cash gifts at Ives Estates Park, according to ABC Miami affiliate WPLG-TV.

“I know they’ll appreciate it,” said Black. “Show these women they’re queens, they’re strong, they’re going to get through it. Pray with them, we’re going to get through it together.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

HBO sets ‘Black and Missing’ release date; Kirby Howell-Baptiste joins cast of ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’; and more

HBO sets ‘Black and Missing’ release date; Kirby Howell-Baptiste joins cast of ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’; and more
HBO sets ‘Black and Missing’ release date; Kirby Howell-Baptiste joins cast of ‘Mr. Harrigan’s Phone’; and more
Courtesty of HBO

HBO has set a release date for their upcoming docu-series Black and Missing, a program which discusses how systemic behaviors stem from “centuries of deeply rooted racism.”

The four-part series, which comes from Emmy winner Geeta Gandbhir and journalist Soledad O’Brien, will debut on HBO with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday, November 23 at 8 p.m ET. The final two episodes will air the next day on November 24 at the same time. In addition to exploring crime-related stories and the issues surrounding them, the anthology is said to “expose the stark disparity in the media coverage of white and Black missing persons.”

In other news, Kirby Howell-Baptiste has been added to the cast of Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, the forthcoming Netflix film adaptation of the short story by Stephen King, Deadline has learned. She joins Jaeden Martell, Donald Sutherland and Joe Tippett, who were previously announced. Like the story by King, the film will center on Craig, a young boy who bonds with an elderly reclusive billionaire and discovers that he can communicate with him after passes via an iPhone. Howell-Baptiste will play Craig’s caring and concerned teacher, Ms. Hart. A release date for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone has not yet been announced.

Finally, Nicole Ari Parker, who will star in the upcoming Sex and the City HBO Max reboot, And Just Like That…, says the new series will tackle issues around race. In an interview with Variety, Parker says “some of [their storylines] will deal with race and deal with real experiences.” As previously reported, And Just Like That… will follow Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis‘ characters “as they navigate their friendship in their 50s. It hits HBO Max in December.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nicole Kidman offers a peek into Keith Urban’s birthday celebration: “Happiest of birthdays my love”

Nicole Kidman offers a peek into Keith Urban’s birthday celebration: “Happiest of birthdays my love”
Nicole Kidman offers a peek into Keith Urban’s birthday celebration: “Happiest of birthdays my love”
ABC/Image Group LA

Keith Urban celebrated his 54th birthday on Tuesday, and his wife, actor Nicole Kidman, didn’t let the day go by without marking the occasion. On social media, she posted a sweet, simple tribute to her country star husband.

“Happiest of birthdays my love,” Nicole wrote, along with a string of birthday cake and heart emojis.

She also posted a snapshot of the two of them hanging out on a boat, with Nicole planting a kiss on Keith’s cheek as he smiles with his eyes closed. A second slide shares a glimpse of their birthday celebrations: From the vantage point of what appears to be a private box at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, we see an image of gold, glittery balloons reading “Happy Birthday.”

Keith and Nicole tied the knot in 2006. They are parents to two daughters, 13-year-old Sunday Rose and 10-year-old Faith Margaret.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.