According to Wooden Overcoat‘s frontman, Brant Hajek, “Recording this EP almost ruined my life, and I hope it sounds like it.”
Hajek wrote, played, recorded, mixed, and edited Hello Sunbeam by himself, wanting “…to make something that sounds old but fresh…something that sounds warm and dense, but somehow also airy.” Mission accomplished, sir, as the EP is psychedelic, dreamy, and fuzzy.
Opening with “Home,” you immediately get the sense of sunbeams waking you in the morning and moonbeams illuminating your late night party that same day. It’s delightfully hooky. “Finally Arrived,” a song about the frailty of human connection, is lush and almost misty. It’s like catching a jasmine smell on the wind and you don’t know its origin, but you want to find it so you can hang out there for hours.
“Heaven Right Now” continues to explore how frail we are and uses reverb-soaked guitars and vocals to show how many of us are always on the edge of the ledge and ready to fall and shatter…yet it’s still hopeful and captivating. It’s no secret that Hajek wrote the album during a dark period of his life. His mother was diagnosed with cancer, he was going through a breakup, and the world was both literally and figuratively on fire (even his band’s name is a nickname for a coffin).
The vocal harmonies on the closing track, “I Knew You Would,” blend well with the psych-surf guitar and soft beats. I’m willing to bet it’s about Hajek’s relationship turning sour and an outcome he saw coming and knew he couldn’t avoid. The guitar solo on it is a standout.
The title of the EP comes from a mantra that Hajek would say when he felt things crushing in on him. It was to remind him that the sun was still there and, as Gandhi once put it, “In the midst of darkness, light persists.” Hello Sunbeam acknowledges the dark, but also embraces the light.
Margate, UK’s Tokyo Tea Room create music inspired by human emotions, exploring themes of longing and the ephemeral nature of existence. Today, they release “Eyes Off You,” an atmospheric track about obsessive love. Written and produced by the band’s Daniel James Elliott, “Eyes Off You” captures the passion of desire through mesmerizing synth, guitar and dreamy vocals by Beth Dunn. True to their introspective universe, yet with a slightly more pop aesthetic, they transform vulnerability into something melodious and danceable.
On “Eyes Off You,” Tokyo Tea Room dive into the murky waters of obsessive love. Weaving a narrative around a love you can’t let go of, even when it hurts, they capture the fatalism of an impossible but all-consuming obsession, singing: “Can’t quit loving you like I was born to lose // Everything I do just leads me back to you.”
Tokyo Tea Room is a timeless project whose message transcends the music itself. The band arouses passions and emotions, taking listeners on a journey within a tender, comforting bubble. Their debut album, No Rush, established them as one of the most compelling emerging acts in alternative music, resonating with a growing global audience. With millions of monthly listeners and a sold-out debut North American tour, the band are rapidly building momentum, particularly in the US, where their audience continues to expand. With new music on the horizon, Tokyo Tea Room are entering a defining new chapter, evolving their sound while staying rooted in the emotional depth that defines their work.
Tokyo Tea Room will return to North America this fall touring in support of forthcoming new music. A full list of dates are below and tickets are on sale now.
Tokyo Tea Room Tour Dates: Thu. Sep 24 – Vancouver – Hollywood Theatre Sat. Sep 26 – Seattle WA – Neumos Mon. Sep 28 – San Francisco CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club Wed. Sep 30 – Los Angeles CA – Teragram Ballroom Fri. Oct 2 – San Diego CA – Quartyard Sat. Oct 3 – Tucson AZ – Club Congress Mon. Oct 5 – Austin TX – 29th St. Ballroom Tue. Oct 6 – Houston TX – White Oak Music Hall Wed. Oct 7 – Dallas TX – Club Dada (indoors) Fri. Oct 9 – Atlanta GA – Terminal West Sat. Oct 10 – Durham NC – Motorco Music Hall Sun. Oct 11 – Washington DC – The Atlantis Tue. Oct 13 – Brooklyn NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg Wed. Oct 14 – New York NY – Bowery Ballroom Thu. Oct 15 – Boston MA – The Sinclair Fri. Oct 16 – Montreal QB – Bar le Ritz Sat. Oct 17 – Toronto ON – Mod Club Mon. Oct 19 – Chicago IL – Lincoln Hall
Thanks to all who tuned in to help celebrate the birthday of Boy Georgewith the Deep Dive of Culture Club on WSND. Here’s the set list in case you missed it:
Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
Johnny Osbourne – Mr. Walker
Wang Chun – Dance Hall Days
London – Everyone’s a Winner
The Damned – Neat Neat Neat
Adam and The Ants – Car Trouble
Bow Wow Wow – Do You Wanna Hold Me
Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant
Culture Club – White Boy
Culture Club – I’m Afraid of Me (demo)
Dennis Brown – Money in My Pocket
Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
The Isley Brothers – It’s Your Thing
Culture Club – Time (Clock of the Heart) (extended mix)
Roxy Music – Angel Eyes
Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya (12” remix)
Stevie Wonder – Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
Culture Club – Church of the Poison Mind
Helen Terry – Love Lies Lost
The Hideaways – Hide Out
Gilbert O’Sullivan – Matrimony
Culture Club – It’s a Miracle (live)
Blue Mink – Melting Pot
Sailor – A Glass of Champagne
Culture Club – Let’s Dance (live)
The Beach Boys – Passing Friend
P.P. Arnold – Electric Dreams
Culture Club – The War Song
Culture Club – Don’t Talk About It
Culture Club – Move Away (live)
This Way Up – Tell Me Why
Mikey Craig and The Method – I’m a Believer
Heartbeat UK – Jump to It!
Jesus Loves You – Bow Down Mister
Pet Shop Boys – Domino Dancing
Culture Club – I Just Wanna Be Loved
Culture Club – Your Kisses Are Charity (Blouse and Skirt mix)
After exploding onto the scene with their acclaimed 2023 EP Paradise, Wishy released their debut LP Triple Seven on Winspear in the summer of 2024. The album was one of the more critically-beloved debuts in recent memory, earning praise from outlets like Pitchfork (“a standout voice in a new generation of shoegaze”), Stereogum (“one of the best indie rock debuts in recent memory“), the NME (“one of the most exciting new rock bands operating anywhere right now“), Paste (“one of the most irresistible, unshakeable albums of the year“) Uproxx (“one of the best new bands in indie rock writ large“), and landing on Best of 2024 lists from publications like The New York Times, GQ and Alt Press.
The band’s run of success has showed no signs of slowing in 2025, which saw the release of a follow up EP called Planet Popstar, a Colbert performance, a run of tour dates with Momma, and appearances at Kilby Block Party and Riot Fest.
Today, Wishy are back to announce their sophomore LP Nature’s Pill (out October 2nd on Winspear). To mark the occasion they are sharing the album’s lead single “Lovesick,” a swooning gem sung by Nina Pitchkites that recalls The Cure at their most pop-forward and The Sundays at their buoyant best.
Pitchkites says of the track:
There’s not much more that needs to be said about yearning in 2026, but here it is anyway. Kevin and I are stupidly romantic people who like twee pop so that combination alone was a recipe for a cheeky “main character” song. We really leaned into the overzealous lyrics here because 1) we’re allowed, 2) can do whatever we want and 3) it’s fun 🙂 yay!
In addition to previously announced August tour dates with The Beths and Beach Bunny, Wishy are announcing a run of headline dates that will take them across the US in the fall. Full details can be found below.
Wishy’s origins go way back, to when Krauter and Pitchkites met in high school in Indianapolis. Some years and a few projects later, they joined forces to form Wishy, rounding out the lineup with guitarist Dimitri Morris, bassist Mitch Collins, and drummer Conner Host. The group’s musical synergy was intense from the jump and the beginning of their career has been a prolific burst: the Mana and Paradise EPs in 2023, debut LP Triple Seven in 2024, and a follow-up EP Planet Popstar in 2025. After those releases met acclaim and the band’s stature rose, the conception of Nature’s Pill was fundamentally different.
Wishy’s Nature’s Pill captures a world where life feels unpredictable and overwhelming, yet full of possibility. On their vibrant sophomore record, Wishy entertains the madness–capturing romantic frustration, neurotic desire and the melodrama that ensues from simply being human in a jubilant remix of the past. Nature’s Pill bears all of Wishy’s trademarks: zany lyrics transfiguring melancholia into freedom, choruses set to become instant classics, and an unholy fusion of sugary grunge, indie rock and dream-pop.
Written more collaboratively than past releases, the group reconvened with Triple Seven co-producer Ben Lumsdaine in Los Angeles, where the quintet packed into a tiny studio and tracked half the songs live in the room, imbuing the album with the immediate energy of a band in sync after heavy touring. It gave them the ability to synthesize an even greater array of touchstones this time around, with the ‘90s dream-pop and alt-rock of Triple Seven fusing with ‘80s college rock and ‘00s indie.
Underneath it all, Wishy locate a tenacity to keep trying anyway. “Being in an indie band feels bizarre when the world is on fire,” Krauter concludes. “What can you do at the end of the day other than carve out some space—at the very least I have my imagination and I can invite others to join me there. At a certain point you need to say fuck it and roll with it.” Sometimes you can’t make sense of it all. Nature’s Pill finds Wishy gleefully giving into the madness. After all: If life is absurd, all the possibilities are up to you.
Tour Dates
07/25 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues * 07/26 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe at Old National Center * 07/27 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall * 07/31 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge *& 08/01 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre *& 08/02 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues *& 08/04 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Madonna Inn *& 08/06 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA *& 08/07 – Pomona, CA @ The Fox Theater *& 08/08 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory *& 08/11 – San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic *& 08/14 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory *& 08/15 – Portland, OR @ Courthouse Square *& 08/16 – Seattle, WA @ Woodland Park Zoo *& 08/17 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Ballroom * 08/18 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM * 08/20 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown * 09/18 – Cincinnati, OH @ Fountain Square $ 09/26–09/27 – Sao Paolo, Brazil @ Balaclava Festival 10/03 – Indianapolis, IN @ WISHYFEST @ Atomic Duckpin 10/09 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups 10/10 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison 10/11 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz 10/13 – Portland, ME @ SPACE 10/14 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 10/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church 10/17 – New York, NY @ Racket 10/18 – Washington, DC @ Atlantis 10/20 – Durham, NC @ Stanczyks 10/21 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 10/22 – Asheville, NC @ Revival 10/23 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room 10/25 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry 10/26 – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade 10/27 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
w/ Beach Bunny *& w/ Beach Bunny and The Beths $ w/ Ratboys
Keep your mind open.
[I’ll feel lovesick if you subscribe…or maybe if you don’t. I’m not sure.]
The final five on this list were, believe it or not, fairly easy to determine. This is probably because they were so good and also because they all hit some emotional note for me because I didn’t think I’d see any of them ever again (or, in one case, even once).
#5: Nine Inch Nails – United Center – Chicago – August 20, 2025
This surprise tour sold out in rapid time, but luckily Nine Inch Nails added a second Chicago show due to popular demand. I had tickets for my fiancé and I, and then learned that my future stepdaughter was a NIN fan. I managed to get a third ticket to what turned out to be a stunning show with three stages, excellent remixes, and an enthusiastic crowd who were roaring for every song.
#4: Underworld – Radius – Chicago – May 17, 2025
Here’s the band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. Underworld playing two full sets at this intimate venue was an immediate purchase. It was a brilliant time, and stunning to see these two gents who can fill stadiums play such a small show with full energy to keep us dancing until the late hours.
#3: Midnight Oil – Riviera / Chicago – June 10, 2022
Midnight Oil was one of my late wife’s favorite bands. We’d seen them two during college, then on their reunion tour in the 2010s, and then we were supposed to see this show, but she died barely eight months earlier. I felt the need to go to honor her and see friends. It was the right decision. The show helped lift some of the weight off me. Midnight Oil sounded great, and it was their final tour. They belted out classics and left us all ready to resist tyranny and love each other.
#2: Love and Rockets – Riviera – Chicago – June 06, 2023
Here is the band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. I missed them in their heyday, and the closest I’d come until this show was seeing David J play an acoustic set at Levitaiton Music Festival. Love and Rockets flattened the place, sounding as strong as ever and reminding all of us that they were and still are rock stars. I was on cloud nine for the whole show.
#1: Failure – Bottom Lounge / Chicago – July 01, 2022
Failure are one of my favorite bands of all time. I don’t joke when I tell people that their Fantastic Planet album can be life-changing. This reunion tour caught me off-guard. I stumbled upon the announcement and then word that they had a VIP package that included a meet-and-greet and attendance at their sound check. It was another emotional show for me, as I was still reeling from my wife’s death and hearing “Another Space Song” live brought me to tears. The show was powerful for a lot of us. I saw a lot of people beaming throughout it, and the band were all happy to chat with us, sign anything, and talk with us about everything from music to films, and, in my case, grief. Again, I don’t joke when I say this show was instrumental in my healing. I’ll always thank Failure for it.
There have been plenty of good shows already in 2026, so come back in early 2027 to see which of those make the list for the best of the year.
Tokyo-based artist and composer Shuta Hasunuma shares new single “A U R A” out today via Virgin Music Group. The track emerges from his ongoing project Shuta Hasunuma Philharmonic Orchestra, a contemporary “philharmonic pop orchestra” built around collective performance and the interplay of minimalist rhythm, vocal resonance, and layered sonic texture. “A U R A” draws out fragments of memory and sensation, a meditation on self-discovery set against a gently expansive worldview, moving from restless repetition into quiet, luminous stillness.
The single arrives just ahead of Hasunuma’s return to the U.S. for a rare run of solo performances, his first since 2019. He will play New York City at Public Records on June 13 and Los Angeles at Healing Force of the Universe on June 20, both preceded respectively by local DJ sets at The Lot Radio on June 12 and Dublab on June 18.
Hasunuma’s collaborative, interdisciplinary practice spans composition, installation, and genre-crossing work, with a wide range of collaborators including Jeff Parker, Ichiko Aoba, Arto Lindsay, Keiji Haino, Cornelius, Devendra Banhart, Foodman, and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
His work blends field recordings, electronic textures, and melodic composition into richly layered pieces, and in recent years has extended into video, sculpture, and installation, presented at domestic and international exhibitions and projects alike. His ensemble and solo music runs alongside soundtracks for stage productions and film.
Hasunuma has also developed a significant international art practice, with exhibitions at Pioneer Works in New York and Shiseido Gallery in Tokyo, where he received the 69th Minister of Education’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists. His credits include composing and conducting for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic opening ceremony.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hasunuma’s debut on an independent U.S. label in 2006. To commemorate the milestone, he will perform “Shuta Hasunuma Double Philharmonic Orchestra” a 41-member large ensemble that brings his Philharmonic with a newly formed string orchestra, at Suntory Hall in Tokyo on August 6.
Stream “A U R A” now and catch Shuta Hasunuma live this summer.
June 18 – Dublab Radio (DJ)
June 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of The Universe (solo)
August 6 – Tokyo, Japan @ Suntory Hall (w/ Double Philharmonic Orchestra)
We’ve reached the top ten of concerts I saw over the last five years, and it includes more bands I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. Starting with…
#10: Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade – Kemba Live!, Columbus, OH – May 31st, 2022
Les Claypool’s side project, The Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, put out one album and a cool double-live album many years ago. I didn’t think he’d revive the project and knew I had to see this tour as soon as it was announced. Sure enough, it was a cool show full of weird psychedelic rock, Sean Lennon on lead guitar, and them covering Pink Floyd’s Animals in its entirety in the middle of the show.
#9: Viagra Boys – Salt Shed – Chicago – February 24, 2023
This was bonkers. It was, according to Viagra Boys’ lead singer Sebastian Murphy, their biggest show in the U.S. so far. It was packed, sweaty, loud, and crazy. The entire indoor stage at the Salt Shed felt like it was shaking and that a drug-fueled orgy might break out at any moment.
#8: TV on the Radio – September 27, 2025 – Levitation Austin – Austin, TX
Here’s the next band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. TVOTR didn’t have a new album to promote, but they were touring and headlining one night of the Levitation Music Festival. I would have gone to the festival just to see them, and they didn’t disappoint. They brought everything I wanted: Energy, fury, power, and joy.
#7: Orbital – Radius – Chicago – March 23, 2024
Here’s the third band in this part of the list I wasn’t sure I’d ever see. Orbital’s tour was another surprise and it was great to see them in a reasonably small venue. They sounded excellent, and the show felt like being transported back in time to a 1993 rave. I hadn’t danced that much in a long while.
#6: Elton John – Soldier Field – Chicago – August 05, 2022
It was a hot and humid night at Soldier Field when Sir Elton John played his final Chicago show on his final tour. It was a big, fun, and emotional show, and he and his band sounded great. In terms of sound quality, this probably is the best show I heard of the last five years. Every note was clear.
Up next, the top five, and they’re all bands I wasn’t sure I’d ever see.
The area around the Old National Centre in Indianapolis was full of people in energy dome hats in anticipation for Devo’s first concert in the city for decades. One of the best parts was seeing the wide age range of fans. My friend, Bill, brought his two young boys, Lexington and Phoenix, with him and they were as hyped for the show as old timers who’d been catching Devo shows since the 1970s.
They came out with energy that men twenty years younger than them wish they had, opening with “Don’t Shoot” and “Peek a Boo.” The crowd barely stopped jumping and dancing the entire time.
Peek-a-Boo, Devo can see you.
“Going Under” was a nice surprise, and Mark Mothersbaugh almost lost his voice by the time they got to “Girl U Want” and “Whip It,” but he had time to recover during “Planet Earth” – a song I didn’t expect but was delighted to hear.
“Blockhead” was another fun deep cut, and “Jocko Homo” shredded the stage. My friend said, “It sounds even more punk live.”
Are we not men?!
“Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA” was another bonkers track (Bob Mothersbaugh breaking all of his guitar strings at one point), with the triple whammy of “Freedom of Choice” (“Use it or lose it, spuds. It’s going fast,” said Bob Casale), “Gut Feeling,” and then “Beautiful World” (sang by Booji Boy) to wrap up the show. It left everyone out of breath by the end.
They’re the Smart Patrol.
Devo have still got it, and they were right all along. They saw all of everything you see today coming decades ago. They warned us. They still are.
Keep your mind open.
Thanks to the pro-photographer who let me snap a photo of this set list!
