Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford has premiered the first single off his upcoming debut solo album, (self-titled).
The track is called “Cannibal” and is available now via digital outlets. You can watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
Mumford announced (self-titled) earlier this week. In a note detailing the project, he shared, “In January 2021, facing demons I danced with for a long time in isolation, I wrote a song called ‘Cannibal.'”
He added, “I took it to my friend [producer] Blake Mills, and we began the process of making this album, dear to my heart.”
(self-titled) will be released September 16. It also includes collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, Brandi Carlile and Monica Martin.
Mumford & Sons’ most recent album is 2018’s Delta.
Here’s the (self-titled) track list:
“Cannibal”
“Grace”
“Prior Warning”
“Better Off High”
“Only Child”
“Dangerous Game” feat. Clairo
“Better Angels”
“Go in Light” feat. Monica Martin
“Stonecatcher” feat. Phoebe Bridgers
“How” feat. Brandi Carlile
(WASHINGTON) — While the Biden administration ramped up outreach to Venezuela in the early months of this year, the Maduro regime imprisoned three Americans who are still behind bars, according to the State Department.
“We can confirm the arrest of U.S. citizens in Venezuela in January and March of this year. We take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,” a department spokesperson told ABC News on Wednesday.
While the spate of detentions initially flew under the radar, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Venezuelan security forces had arrested Eyvin Hernandez, 44, and 52-year-old computer programmer Jerrel Kenemore during separate incidents in late March.
The report added that another American was arrested in January but withheld identifying details at the request of their family.
Venezuela separately released two American prisoners in early March, following a visit to Caracas by a high-level U.S. delegation. One of those freed was oil executive Gustavo Cardenas, part of the “Citgo 6” who had been jailed since 2017, when they were called to the country for a meeting and arrested on corruption charges.
On Wednesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about President Joe Biden’s engagement on the newly revealed cases, but Sullivan did not directly answer.
“We did get a couple of Americans out and that was a great thing,” he said, referring to the two Americans freed this year. “But it was bittersweet because there’s a lot of Americans still there, and we’ve got to get them home.”
A spokesperson for White House National Security Council also declined to comment.
The U.S. government has since the Trump administration recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader — and has been trying to facilitate talks between his opposition party and President Nicolás Maduro. As part of those efforts, the Biden White House rolled back some energy sanctions targeting the regime in late May, which paved the way for negotiating future economic activity with American companies but stopped short of allowing for oil drilling to resume.
At the time, administration officials said both sides had agreed to swiftly return to the negotiating table.
But Maduro has not agreed to a date, so discussions remain stalled.
At least eight other Americans are considered to be wrongfully detained in Venezuela, including the rest of the “Citgo 6” and two U.S. veterans. One of them is Matthew Heath, who has been jailed in the country since September 2020.
Heath’s family said he attempted suicide in June. At the time, his relatives expressed dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s efforts to bring him home.
“Matthew’s life is in imminent danger, and we don’t detect any urgency at all from the White House,” his aunt said in a statement. “We are frustrated with the pattern of ‘deciding not to decide’ at the White House, endless policy reviews, and empty platitudes about his case being a priority.”
Following the incident, sources said that U.S. officials believed they were making significant progress on Heath’s case but were ultimately left empty-handed.
Last week, one of the five American oil executives still detained in Venezuela, Jorge Toledo, wrote a letter to Biden calling on the president to work to free them and other wrongfully detained Americans, according to a spokesman for Toledo’s family.
A Biden administration official confirmed to ABC News that the White House had received the letter, although the official declined to say whether Biden had read it.
Buying a t-shirt as a concert souvenir is so 2021 — wouldn’t you rather buy an NFT? Goo Goo Dolls are hoping the answer is yes.
In connection with their 2022 summer tour, the band is rolling out an NFT collection: There are 44 different designs, each commemorating a city they’ll be playing in. Each animated NFT is based on the cover design of their upcoming album Chaos in Bloom, but has the name of the city instead of the title — such as “Chaos in Portland” or “Chaos in Kansas City” — plus the venue.
There are 50 NFTs available per city, and they cost $25 each. You can check them out, or purchase one, at the website Fanaply.
The band’s tour kicks off Friday, July 15 and is scheduled to wrap up September 24 in the band’s hometown of Buffalo, NY. Chaos in Bloom arrives August 12.
Pearl Jam has premiered the video for “Quick Escape,” a track off the band’s latest album, Gigaton.
The clip cuts frenetic performance footage of Eddie Vedder and company, with shots of a car speeding through a desert landscape and a young person in a spacesuit walking through a city.
You can watch the “Quick Escape” video streaming now on YouTube.
Gigaton, the 11th Pearl Jam album, was released in 2020. The Tour Edition of the record, which features live versions of nearly every Gigaton song, just dropped last Friday.
Pearl Jam is currently on tour in Europe in support of Gigaton. They’ll return to North America for a run of U.S. and Canadian dates in September.
(MOSCOW) — WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in a Russian court on Thursday morning for the third day of her trial, as the Biden administration works to secure her release.
Griner did not testify but several Russian individuals testified as character witnesses about their experiences with the basketball star.
The first witness was Maxim Ryabkov, the director of UMMC — the Russian basketball club in the city of Yekaterinburg for which Griner played in the WNBA offseason. The second witness was team doctor Anatoly Galabin, who said that she never tested positive for doping while playing for the team. And the third witness, Evgenia Belyakova, one of Griner’s Russian teammates, said that Griner was the leader of the team.
Griner pleaded guilty on drug charges in a Russian court last week, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage unintentionally.
Griner, who has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, said she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law, and was in a rush but did not mean to leave the cartridges in her bag.
The WNBA star’s trial, which is taking place in Khimki — a suburb of Moscow — began on July 1, more than 4 1/2 months after Griner was detained.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was visiting Russia to play basketball in the off-season when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport after being accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.
Her legal team told ABC News in a statement last week that her “guilty” plea was informed by a discussion with her Russian attorneys.
“Brittney sets an example of being brave. She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” they said in the statement. “Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”
Griner’s detention was extended repeatedly, most recently through Dec. 20, which was the expected length of her trial. If convicted, Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison and also has a right to an appeal.
The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained,” meaning the U.S. will more aggressively work to negotiate her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department has said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week that Griner’s guilty plea will have “no impact” on any of the negotiations to bring her home to the U.S.
Calls to free Griner escalated following the release of U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed last month, who was freed from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange. Former Marine Paul Whelan has also been detained in Russia since 2019.
“We’re going to do everything that we can to bring home Brittney Griner safely, and to also make sure that we bring Paul Whelan back home, as well,” Jean-Pierre said.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is planning to travel to Russia in the near future for talks aimed at negotiating a deal to free Griner, a source with knowledge of the proposed trip told ABC News.
Richardson, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, played a role in achieving Reed’s release.
ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti, Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Henderson Hewes contributed to this report.
On Thursday, Amazon Studios dropped an extended look at what’s said to be the most expensive television series ever made: The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power.
As previously reported, the show, set in author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, takes place thousands of years before Peter Jackson‘s Oscar-wining LOTR trilogy — in a time known to fans as the Second Age.
The teaser is vague on the plot, but the Elven Queen Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, has a vision that something very bad is afoot — and tries to convince Robert Aramayo‘s Elrond of the same.
“The enemy is out there,” she warns him. “The question now is where?”
“You have fought long enough, Galadriel,” Elrond protests. “Put up your sword.” For the uninitiated, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving play their respective roles in the previous films.
The teaser also shows sprawling vistas of Middle-Earth and some of the settings in which the shows take place: The delicate beauty of the Elven kingdom of Númenór; the rugged, stone-hewed underground kingdom of the dwarves; Khazad-dûm and the fields of Men. Viewers are also introduced to the nomadic Harfoots, the most common form of Hobbits, the small-statured, leather-footed beings that were featured in Jackson’s films.
The series — which also stars Ismael Cruz Córdova, Markella Kavenagh, Charlie Vickers, Maxim Baldry and Owain Arthur — debuts September 2 on Amazon Prime.
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp has broken his silence on the Doja Cat controversy to let fans know both of them are cool.
Last week, Noah shared the “Say So” singer’s private DM in what was intended to be a funny video about her crush on Joseph Quinn. Doja previously slid into Noah’s DMs in hopes he could be her wingman.
The Grammy winner later revealed she was “disappointed” and “bummed” he had leaked her private messages. “That’s like borderline snake s***,” she said on a fan-recorded TikTok live, adding she chose to give Noah the benefit of the doubt because of his age. She noted of the 17-year-old actor, “When you’re that young, you make mistakes.”
Still, the video was polarizing enough to cause fans to draw lines in the sand. Sympathizers flocked to Noah’s side and slammed the 26-year-old singer for messaging a minor about her romantic interests.
The controversy continued to grow, so Noah took to TikTok to let fans know the situation is all water under the bridge.
“Guys everything is all good I apologized,” he wrote in a comment after posting a funny video of him crushing math problems to a Doja Cat song. “I still follow her and love her music.” He added there are “no hard feelings” between the two.
Despite his assurances, Doja continues to shed followers. So far, she has lost over 200,000 Instagram fans. Noah also now boasts more TikTok and Instagram followers than her.
Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has released the first single with his newest band, Dieth.
The track is titled “In the Hall of the Hanging Serpents” and is streaming alongside a video now on YouTube.
Along with Ellefson, Dieth includes guitarist/vocalist Guilherme Miranda of the band Entombed A.D. and former Decapitated drummer Michal Łysejko.
“The three of us have all been recognized in our respective bands and careers but at some point, we had to close the door on those exploits to let something new begin and now we have found it in Dieth,” Ellefson says. “In fact, the name itself is about dying to one’s past so that something new can spring forth to create the next chapter of life. And, that is a connection the three of us hold in common.”
Ellefson was let go from Megadeth in 2021 after a sexually explicit video of him leaked online. He was replaced by Testament bassist Steve Di Giorgio on Megadeth’s upcoming new album The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, while returning Megadeth member James LoMenzo has become the band’s new official bassist.
Along with Dieth, Ellefson’s post-Megadeth projects include the band The Lucid, which launched last September.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jul 14, 7:15 AM EDT
Russian missile strike kills at least 17 in Vinnytsia
Russian missiles hit the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday morning, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 30 others, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
Two children were among the dead, the prosecutor’s office said.
The missiles struck an office building and damaged nearby residential buildings in Vinnytsia, located about 155 miles southwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The strike also ignited a massive fire that engulfed 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, according to the National Police of Ukraine.
The national police said about 90 victims in Vinnytsia sought medical attention, and 50 of them are in serious condition.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “an open act of terrorism” on civilians.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskyy said in a statement via Telegram on Thursday.
Russian missile strikes targeted several other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday and early Thursday, including Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv.
At least 12 people died in the Zaporizhia strike, which hit two industrial workshops on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
At least five civilians were killed and 30 others injured in Mykolaiv on Wednesday after Russian missiles destroyed a hotel and a shopping mall, the local mayor said. The southern Ukrainian city was shelled again on Thursday morning, but no casualties were immediately reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Fidel Pavlenko, Max Uzol, and Yulia Drozd
Jul 13, 6:30 PM EDT
State Department aware of reports on another American detained by Russian proxies
The State Department said Wednesday it is aware of unconfirmed reports that another American has been detained by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
The statement follows a [report from the Guardian] () on 35-year-old Suedi Murekezi, who is believed to have gone missing in Ukraine in early June.
According to the Guardian, Murekezi was able to make contact with a family member on July 7 and told them he was being held in the same prison as Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two American veterans captured while volunteering for Ukrainian forces. Murekezi has lived in Ukraine since 2020 and was falsely accused of participating in pro-Ukraine protests, according to the report.
“We have been in contact with the Ukrainian and Russian authorities regarding U.S. citizens who may have been captured by Russia’s forces or proxies while fighting in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. “We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations to treat all individuals captured fighting with Ukraine’s armed forces as prisoners of war.”
Another American — Grady Kurpasi — is also missing in Ukraine. A family spokesperson said the veteran was last seen fighting with Ukrainian forces in late April and is feared to have been either killed or captured.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Jul 13, 8:27 AM EDT
Shelling continues throughout Donbas region
Shelling from both Russian and Ukrainian forces caused damage to the landscape and destroyed structures throughout the Donbas region on Tuesday and Wednesday, local officials said.
Russian strikes reportedly targeted the eastern town of Bakhmut, killing one person and wounding 5 others, the local governor said. Explosions were heard in several nearby towns too, with one missile falling near a kindergarten.
Shelling also continued in Izyum, Mykolayiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. Russian troops reportedly conducted unsuccessful attacks north of Slovyansk and the town of Siversk on Tuesday, despite repeated rhetoric of an “operational pause” that Russia allegedly maintains, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
Russian forces continue to bomb critical areas in preparation for future ground offensive, with air and artillery strikes reported along the majority of the frontline, the experts added.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday responded to the Russian attacks and claimed to have destroyed six Russian military facilities on occupied Ukrainian territories. Ukrainian officials claimed to have destroyed several ammunition depots, as well as a larger military unit.
Russian media reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops launched a “massive attack” on an air defense unit in the Luhansk region.
Ukrainian military officials also claimed to have killed at least 30 Russian troops on Tuesday, along with destroying a howitzer and a multiple rocket launcher, among other weaponry.
But the U.K. Defense Ministry in its latest intelligence update said it still expects Russian forces to “focus on taking several small towns during the coming weeks” in the Donbas region.
These towns are on the approaches to the larger cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk that likely remain the principal objectives for this phase of the Russian military operation, the ministry said.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Max Uzol, Yulia Drozd and Yuriy Zaliznyak
Jul 12, 10:27 PM EDT
US transfers $1.7 billion in economic assistance to Ukrainian government
The United States transferred $1.7 billion to Ukraine’s government Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced.
It’s the second tranche of money the Treasury transferred to Ukraine’s government as part of $7.5 billion approved for this purpose in the $40 billion Ukraine aid package Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law in May.
It’ll go, in part, to helping Ukraine’s government provide “essential health care services” and health care workers’ salaries, the Treasury Department said.
The U.S. transferred the first tranche, $1.3 billion, to Ukraine’s government two weeks ago.
-ABC News Benjamin Gittleson
Jul 12, 1:59 AM EDT
Ukraine destroys Russian ammo depot in occupied Kherson region
Ukrainian forces hit and likely destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region on Monday night, local officials said.
The strike resulted in a massive blast, videos of which soon circulated online. According to local reports, more than 40 trucks filled with gasoline were destroyed. Russian media didn’t verify the claims, saying instead that pro-Russian forces had destroyed a series of saltpeter warehouses.
“People’s windows are blown out, but they are still happy … because this means that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are close,” Sergey Khlan, from the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in the aftermath of the attack.
Monday’s strike marked at least the fourth time Ukrainian forces destroyed ammunition depots in Nova Kakhovka, local media reported.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Tatiana Rymarenko, Max Uzol and Yulia Drozd
Meghan Trainor‘s new song “Bad for Me” was inspired by a letter her therapist asked her to write to a toxic family member; In a new interview, the Grammy winner revealed what happened to it.
Speaking to Australia’s 7News, Meghan said, “I got with my therapist and wrote a letter to the family member and I got no response.”
“I still haven’t got a response,” she added. The “Me Too” singer noted that instead of suffering in the radio silence, she turned to her music. “It was really hard and I wrote this song the next day,” Meghan revealed.
“I didn’t know this would be the first single off this album,” she continued, referencing her upcoming album, Takin’ It Back. “I’m usually coming out with an upbeat ‘love myself’ anthem, so this was different for me.”
Meghan said the song isn’t the only thing helping her heal — the overwhelming response from fans and those resonating with the song has lifted her spirits tremendously. “I didn’t know how relatable it would be and it made me feel not alone,” she expressed.
Elsewhere in the interview, Meghan shouted out husband Daryl Sabara and gushed, “He treats me like a queen — he makes me breakfast every day and he opens every door I walk through.”
The Clash of the Cover Bands judge also mentioned their “perfect baby” — one-year-old Riley — and revealed that she and Sabara “want three more” kids!
As for her other future plans, Meghan is keeping an eye on the pandemic and says she will launch a new tour once it is over. She also wants to go on a vacation to Australia so her son can see the wildlife.
“He needs to see kangaroos and koalas in Australia – that would be the coolest place for him,” Meghan raved.
