Thursday Music News

01/07/2016

Janice Headley

Tomorrow, not only will iconic rocker David Bowie celebrate his 69th birthday, but he releases his 25th studio album ★ (pronounced "Blackstar") via Columbia Records. Today, he shares the video for the track "Lazarus," which features the influential artist, well, hallucinating in a mental hospital. Watch the clip, directed by Johan Renck, below, and tune in tomorrow, Friday, January 8th, as KEXP presents Intergalactic Bowie Day from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PT, playing selections from every era of Bowie’s remarkable career, including rare recordings, live performances, collaborations, productions, music from artists that inspired Bowie, artists he inspired, and more. [Consequence of Sound]

Legendary gospel/soul singer Mavis Staples gets by with a little help from her friends on her forthcoming full-length, Livin' on a High Note, out February 19th via Anti-. The album was produced by M. Ward, and features songs written for Staples by Nick Cave, The Head & the Heart, Justin Vernon, tUnE-yArds, Neko Case, Aloe Blacc, and more. In a press release, Staples said, "These songwriters gave me a challenge. They gave me that feeling of, ‘Hey, I can hang! I can still do this!’ There’s a variety, and it makes me feel refreshed and brand new. Just like Benjamin Booker wrote on the opening track, ‘I got friends and I got love around me, I got people, the people who love me.’ I’m living on a high note, I’m above the clouds. I’m just so grateful. I must be the happiest old girl in the world. Yes, indeed." Listen to the track "High Note" below, written by Valerie June. [Pitchfork]

We're not the only ones binge-watching the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer: The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach was so disturbed, he wrote the track "Lake Superior" for his side project, The Arcs. In a statement, he explained, "Last week, we got a sneak peek at what goes on behind the curtains of our criminal justice system. A few sleepless nights later we gathered in the studio and wrote this song. Written, recorded, mixed and mastered in two days." Listen below, and consider paying for a download when it becomes available. Proceeds from the track benefit the Innocence Project, a non-profit that helps to exonerate wrongly convicted people through DNA testing. [Spin]

It's been four years since Fragrant World, but Brooklyn psych-band Yeasayer return April 1st with the full-length Amen & Goodbye, out via Mute. The band launch a video today for the track "I Am Chemistry," which features guest vocals from Suzzy Roche of The Roches. The clip was inspired by the work of sculptor David Altmejd, who designed the album cover. "Viewers will enjoy a cosmonaut giving birth, dancing statue children, landscapes strewn with disfigured monuments, poisonous pod plants, and neon caves." Who can resist? Watch below: [Under the Radar]

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