A cornerstone of their live shows, and charged with test plan’s distinctive blend of hypnotic guitars, growling bass and delirious vocals – landing, according the band’s own mantra “somewhere between dancing and moshing” – “My Teeth” puts us in the shoes of a religious figure losing their grip, their sanity and their teeth.
Written and recorded in their North London rehearsal space with the help of producer Darren Jones (Fat Dog, Gorillaz), the new single is released in anticipation of a debut trip to the states for New York’s New Colossus Festival, as well as a tour of Europe in May. Staying true to their independent spirit and DIY ethos, the track comes with a chaotic music video, directed, as ever by drummer / vocalist Max Mason.
Centered around the track’s classically nightmarish central image, on the video the band say: “Inspired by the late great David Lynch, Gasper Noe, and Michel Gondry, the video offers a surrealist collage of religious imagery and dream logic. It’s also the most ambitious and complex video we’ve created so far, chronicling a tooth having a very bad day. Close friends, including members of For Breakfast, DAAY, Burden Limbs, and Black Bordello, helped design and craft the costume, filmed, set designed, acted and appeared as extras. It was exciting to have so many people come together and pour their energy into the shoot.”
Their first release of the year comes following a breakthrough 2024 which earned them a landmark support slot for cult-legends A Place To Bury Strangers, debut trips to EU for Paris’ Supersonic Block Party and Rotterdam’s Left Of The Dial (the latter inviting them back for their NYE celebrations), as well as the fulsome backing of Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop), who placed spring single “Walking In A Vacuum” in his top 50 tracks of 2024. This bolsters previous support from key UK tastemakers So Young, John Kennedy (Radio X) and Still Listening Magazine.
The thing about grief is that it comes on hard and unrelenting in the first few months, or even the first year. After that, you learn to live with it, to work with it, to manage it, but you never know when it will come out of nowhere and flatten you.
Bonnie Trash do a deep dive into grief, and looming spectre of death, on their new full-length album, Mourning You. Opening, after an instrumental intro to set the creepy mood, with “Veil of Greed,” lead singer SarafinaBortolon-Vettor admits that she’s helpless before such a powerful force (“I bow down before you, and I know you feed.”) while twin sister Emmalia knocks out industrial-meets-doom riffs.
“My Love Remains the Same (Kisses Goodbye)” is beautiful. It could be a Psychedelic Furs track in another dimension somewhere. Emma Howarth-Withers‘ bass line locks in the whole track while Sarafina says final goodbyes to a loved one…or at least tries to do so (“My love remains the same, and I won’t let you go.’). The song is surprisingly upbeat and primed for radio play by somewhat subversive DJs looking to sneak a great goth track past their programming directors.
“I wish it was different, but I see you in my dreams every night,” Serafina sings, tricking you into first thinking “Hellmouth,” despite its title, is going to be a love song…and it is, but it’s a song about how the amount you loved someone will equal the amount of grief you will experience after they’re gone. Trust me on this.
Dana Bellamy‘s hammering drums on “Haunt Me (What Have You Become)” almost knock your teeth down your throat at first, but then turn into a stressed heartbeat. It’s a song that belongs on the soundtrack for The Babadook (one of the best movies about grief I’ve seen). “and in the end, I’ll wait for you” reveals the band’s love of Joy Division. I mean, listening to Howarth-Withers’ bass and tell me she’s not a fan of Peter Hook. “I will like awake, living through my life,” Serafina sings, evoking images of her “Longing for all the times we shared…” as she wonders how she can go on alone.
“Poison Kiss” is sure to be on many goth mixtapes (“Your poison kiss is a special kind of hell.”) in the future. “Please don’t leave me rotting in the ground. Please don’t leave me when you’re dead and gone. I wish I knew you better,” Serafina laments on “Your Love Is My Revenge.” “When will I see you again?” she wonders. We all wonder that after a loss. She struggles with acceptance, regret, and the loss of not only a loved one, but also of a sense of purpose and time. Emmalia sounds like she’s taking a belt sander to her guitar at some points, while Bellamy opts for simple but massive drum fills. The combination works quite well.
The album ends with the creepy, somewhat hypnotic “it eats shadows.” It’s over seven minutes of guitar drone while Serafina’s spoken word lyrics loop over and over to make the hair on the back of your neck rise.
Bonnie Trash have used heavy guitars, drums, and lyrics to sum up the massive weight of grief. It can feel like a hydraulic press crushing you, first in one sudden blow, and then slowly squeezing the life out of you. Bonnie Trash know that a crucial step to living afterwards is to express your rage. You have to release it, and this album will help.
Today, Fire Talk Records debuts set dressing, a new side project from Mandy, Indiana, “one of the decade’s best new bands” (Bandcamp). set dressing expands upon Mandy, Indiana’s “transfixing blend of violence and transcendence” (Pitchfork), translating the “visceral and strange” (The Quietus) industrial palette for one of swathing instrumentals.
set dressing is not credited to any individuals and is represented only by an avatar. The debut single “class valedictorian” sets a deeply atmospheric introduction and soundtracks a venture into the dark unknown. Written, recorded and produced by set dressing, the instrumental “class valedictorian” is haunted by droning synths that instantly transport listeners somewhere uncanny and preternatural. It’s an extension of the distinct world building displayed across i’ve seen a way — Mandy, Indiana’s acclaimed debut, named one of 2023’s best albums by The New York Times, Pitchfork, Guardian, Loud & Quiet, Crack, DIY, UPROXX, Line of Best Fit and more — and marks the beginning of an unsettling journey.
set dressing will make their live debut in Manchester on April 12th at 𝐏𝟑𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝑬𝒗𝒆 {formerly 𝑶! 𝑷𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅} (Basement), followed by a performance at Sounds From the Other City Festival in Salford on May 4th. Be on the lookout for more from set dressing this year via Fire Talk.
set dressing Tour Dates Sat. April 12 – Manchester, UK @ 𝐏𝟑 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒗𝒆 {formerly 𝑶! 𝑷𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅} (Basement) Sun. May 4 – Salford, UK @ Sounds From the Other City Festival
Keep your mind open.
[You’ll be a valedictorian in my eyes if you subscribe.]
Austin-based electronic-synthpop artist Claude9presents ‘Clouds So Low’, the soulful first single from his forthcoming‘Chords of Love’ album, slated for release on March 28 via indie imprint New Human Music. This chill feel-good offering tastefully blends Enoesque ambient music and downtempo trip-hop.
Encapsulating the dreamy, rhythmic energy that defines much of the album, ‘Clouds So Low’ serves as a perfect introduction to this relaxing 9-track sonic journey. Claude9 also offers a newly-recordedmini-live set a sneak-peak of ‘Chords of Love’.
“‘Clouds So Low’ is a funky, breakbeat-driven downtempo track that was inspired by the surreal low-hanging clouds I encountered during a drive to the studio for the song’s first session. Combining vocoder effects with soulful live vocals and melodic lines from my electric melodica, the track offers a playful and atmospheric vibe. With its lighthearted energy, it evokes a sense of wonder, reminiscent of The Orb’s iconic ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’,” says Claude9.
“This was the first track I began for this album, originally envisioned as a collaborative project with my friend Alec Ash. However, shortly after the first session, COVID hit, and the album evolved into a solo endeavor. The inspiration for this track came from my deep love of downtempo trip-hop acts like Massive Attack and The Orb.”
Claude9 has been involved in the Austin music scene for several decades, both as a live performer and recording artist. As a keyboard player and singer, he has worked with Reggae acts Pressure, the Killer Bees, and Raggamassive, cutting his teeth to become a sought-after keyboard player. From there, he joined forces with hiphop-funk act Afrofreque, Supercreeps and Hail Marley.
Emerging in the late 90s as one of Austin’s first electronic producers, Claude9 was involved in several well-received House music collaborations in the early 2000s. His background as a live musician brought authenticity to the dub and funk elements in his electronic compositions and, more recently, to his collaboration with Noëlle Hampton (the Belle Sounds) and Ken Christensen (East Coast Boogiemen) in synth pop band XANIMAL.
“The lyrics for ‘Clouds So Low’ were sparked by a vivid moment on my drive to Lockhart, TX, for that initial session. The clouds that day hung incredibly low in the sky, and as I crossed a high overpass, it felt as though they were close enough to touch. I found myself imagining stepping out of the car and walking on them—a whimsical thought that became the core idea for the song,” says Claude9.
“I already had the breakbeats I wanted to use, and once I arrived at the studio, the rest of the track came together surprisingly quickly. It turned out almost exactly as I had envisioned, which is a rare occurrence for any artist. The track brings together many of my favorite elements: crisp breakbeats, lush pads, a heavy bass synth, melodica melodies, and a blend of vocoder and “real” vocals.”
As a producer at Claude9 Studios, Claude continues to produce and record internationally recognized music in the House and Downtempo genres, while still pushing limits and being an influential member of the ever changing Austin music community.
‘Clouds So Low’ is out everywhere digitally, includingApple Music, SpotifyandBandcamp. Now available for pre-order, the ‘Chords of Love’ album will be released – on vinyl and digitally – on March 28.
mclusky, masters of razor-sharp wit, jagged riffs and unrelenting energy, return with their first new album in 20 years: the world is still here and so are we (may 9, ipecac recordings).
Today, mclusky previews the 13-song album with a two-song digital single: “way of the exploding dickhead” and “unpopular parts of a pig.” a cheeky video for “way of the exploding dickhead” (https://mclusky.lnk.to/exploding) directed by remy lamont, was released simultaneously. with a blistering mix of tightly wound aggression and wry humor, mclusky’s edge is as sharp as ever.
Andrew Falkous: “With a title modeled on/ripped off a formative video game (the way of the exploding fist on the zx spectrum), and lyrics inspired by the huge excitement caused by the surge pricing on tickets to see a band play well in the distance, ‘way of the exploding dickhead’ is a modern parable, without the parable bit.”
It’s important to state that the world is still here and so are we is the fourth mclusky album (no qualification being needed). they had an asterisk next to the name for a bit – out of respect for past band members and the precious memorial glue of teenage musical crushes – but fuck that, in for a penny, in for a pound. lyrically it touches on subjects as rich and as varied as work-it-out-yourself and impenetrable-inside-joke-for-the-band, but one thing is clear, all of the songs have different words. all hilarious joking aside, the best songs are about things without being precisely about them. mclusky endorse this sentiment. they positively insist on it.
Album pre-orders are available now (https://mclusky.lnk.to/world) with the world is still here and so are we available on multiple limited-edition vinyl variants (marble vinyl and 180 gram black vinyl), an indie store exclusive clear vinyl, as well as a standard blue vinyl. The release is also available on CD and digital formats.
mclusky tour dates:
May 8 – Wrexham, UK The Rockin’ Chair
May 18 – Brussels, Belgium Les Nuits Botaniques (w/ The Jesus Lizard)
May 23 – Manchester, UK Gorilla
May 24 – Leeds, UK Brudenell
May 29 – London, UK Electric Ballroom
May 31 – Bristol, UL SWX
Tickets for all shows are on-sale now with links available via ipecac.com/tours.
Keep your mind open.
[The subscription box is still there, waiting for you.]
Today Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor share a second look at their forthcoming collaborative album ‘All Worlds’, which is set for release on March 7th via Sacred Bones. Lust For Youth have also announced tour dates across Europe, including a UK run in March.
In June 2023, Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor shared the stage at the iconic Sydney Opera House during the Vivid Live Festival. This encounter reignited their creative partnership, laying the foundation for ‘All Worlds’.
Loke Rahbek, who used to be a member of Lust For Youth, left the group to focus on his solo project Croatian Amor and the Posh Isolation record label. His departure coincided with the release of Lust For Youth’s self-titled album in 2019. With ‘All Worlds’, Rahbek’s collaboration with Lust For Youth marks a poignant reunion for the band’s core creative forces, where the differing sonic palettes of the Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor projects meet again in the form of a full-length album.
Drawing inspiration from the Golden Record sent into space as humanity’s message to the unknown, ‘All Worlds’ mirrors this longing for connection and understanding. Each track captures a fragment of emotion, culture, or memory, offering a kaleidoscopic view of the human experience.
Following the release of first single “Dummy” – a pivotal track borne of the creative spark set between the three in Australia – today they share a second look at the album with new track “Kokiri“. Taking it’s name from the forest in video game series The Legend of Zelda, “Kokiri” builds layers of luminous, earthy atmospherics and samples to an energised, heady, beat-based crescendo.
Along with the original version of the track, they also share an ethereal remix by Fatshaudi, commenting: “Rachel had made a cover/version of Armida, that she posted on her social media. We really liked her version and asked if she was into make something for All Worlds. She gave back this stripped down and beautiful version of Kokiri.”
Lust For Youth have also confirmed new European tour dates, taking in the following shows:
March 11th @ La Station, Paris France March 12th @ The Lexington, London UK March 13th @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle upon Tyne UK March 14th @ The Flying Duck, Glasgow UK March 26th @ Rust, Copenhagen Denmark April 16th @ Hus 7, Stockholm Sweden April 18th @ Plan B, Malmö Sweden May 28th @ Rote Fabrik, Zürich Switzerland May 30th @ Stream Festival, Linz Austria
The new album’s title ‘All Worlds’ reflects the idea of collecting fragments from disparate places, feelings, and stories. Each song unveils a unique “world,” contributing to overarching themes of exploration and introspection. These “worlds” represent the inner landscapes we carry, shaping our identities. The title also gestures toward connection—as if these worlds float through space, waiting to be discovered and understood. Ultimately, ‘All Worlds’ embodies the quest for belonging and meaning.
Through a sonic journey of isolation, resilience, and wonder, introspective lyrics intertwine with lush, evocative soundscapes. Retaining the dreamy atmospheres characteristic of both Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor, the album’s reverb-drenched production lends it an ethereal, nostalgic quality. While themes of melancholy and longing are central, energetic beats and uplifting arrangements introduce a bittersweet harmony that oscillates between vulnerability and euphoria.
The album marks a shift in tone, moving away from Lust For Youth’s synth-driven post-punk roots. Instead, ‘All Worlds’ embraces a dance-oriented aesthetic, weaving pulsating rhythms and techno-inspired motifs with layered vocal samples. The result is a textured soundscape—an exploration of emotional fragility through shimmering production and introspective melodies.
Celebrating twelve years since their 2013 ambient-industrial album ‘Pomegranate’, ‘All Worlds’ reflects the evolution of Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor. This album serves as both a response to their earlier work and a progression informed by a decade of growth and change. It deepens their exploration of sound and meaning, speaking directly to the present moment.
Like the Golden Record adrift in space, ‘All Worlds’ is a collection of moments waiting to connect with those who choose to listen.
Oklahoma-based band Broncho announce Natural Pleasure, their first new album in six years, out April 25th, and present two singles, “Funny” and “Imagination.” Broncho – Ryan Lindsey (vocals, guitar), Ben King (guitar), Penny Pitchlynn (bass), and Nathan Price (drums) – has always been synonymous with reinvention, and Natural Pleasuremarks their boldest transformation yet. This long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Bad Behavior dives headfirst into lush atmospheres without abandoning the raw, gritty energy that made them a household name in indie rock. This is an album meant to be savored with headphones—a long-playing experience with rich textures and hypnotic soundscapes.
Since their breakout hit, “Class Historian,” in 2014, Broncho has been at the forefront of indie innovation, finding fans in legends like Josh Homme, Jack White, and Hayley Williams. Their music—equal parts gritty rock and dreamy psychedelia—has been featured in TV shows like Girls and Reservation Dogs, further cementing their status as cultural touchstones.
Natural Pleasure was recorded primarily at Blackwatch Studios in Norman, Oklahoma, with Chad Copelin, and completed at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. Tulsa remains their spiritual home, a city whose musical lineage—from Leon Russell and JJ Cale to The Flaming Lips—infuses every note they play. The album balances spontaneity with careful craftsmanship. Lindsey’s unmistakable vocal delivery is a phenomenon in its own right. His lyrics are often enigmatic, delivered in a way that feels like an instrument of pure emotion rather than straightforward storytelling. At first listen, it may be impossible to catch a single word, yet the emotional intensity he summons is undeniable. It’s a rare and uncanny ability—one that connects listeners to the music on a visceral level before the lyrics fully reveal themselves.
From the opening tracks “Imagination” and “Funny,” Natural Pleasure sets the stage for a sonic journey defined by playfulness and introspection. “Imagination” envelops listeners with layered production and Lindsey’s understated yet captivating vocals, pulling them into a divine haze of possibility. The track “was written in the early hours of a pandemic morning in my garage. I imagine the whole neighborhood might have heard me writing that one,” says Lindsey. “Funny” follows with its offbeat charm and infectious groove, encapsulating the duality of self-reflection and levity that defines the album. In Lindsey’s words, “although none of our songs are written about any one subject, funny is loosely based on my ability to steal my girlfriends jokes.”
Listening to Natural Pleasure is a sensory journey—a plunge into a dimension where reality blurs into something more fluid and profound. With this record, Broncho reaffirms their status as indie rock stalwarts, delivering a masterpiece that’s alive, unpredictable, and deeply human.
The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s second album, Darklands (from 1987), was the first without a drummer. Bobby Gillespie had left the band to become the lead singer of Primal Scream, so drum machines were used for the percussion on the record. The Reid brothers, Jim and William share vocals throughout the album.
William is on lead vocals for the opening title track, which dials down the fuzz tones of Psychocandy, but doesn’t lose any of the groovy hooks JAMC can create. Jim sings on “Deep One Perfect Morning.” William’s strumming guitar chords on it create a shimmering effect that turns into a driving storm on the following track – “Happy When It Rains.” It’s a song about being caught in a bad relationship that sometimes feels like you have a good thing going.
Jim Reid sounds exhausted as a young man on “Down on Me,” with lyrics like “Twenty-five years of growing old. It just hangs in front of me.” William’s guitar work on it is excellent, even bringing in some surf-rock elements. “Nine Million Rainy Days” has William back on lead vocals, and he sounds like he’s been devastated by a lover (“As far as I can see, there’s nothing left of me. All my time in hell was spent with you.”). It’s a sad, haunting track and, upon hearing it again, makes me realize how much JAMC are an influence on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Jim asks for answers from a departing lover on “April Skies,” which was the first single released from the album. “Fall” (which seems to have influenced The Raveonettes) brings back some of the growling fuzz of Psychocandy as Jim tries to explain to everyone how he’s dried up from constantly being pressured by the world. “Cherry Came Too” is easily the naughtiest song on the record and a tale (with doo-wop touches!) of kinky sex and obsessive compulsion.
William returns on lead vocals for “On the Wall,” a song about being stuck in time and place and not having much motivation or opportunity to change the situation. Despite the many songs on Darklands about bad relationships, misery after a breakup, and the motivations behind love, the album ends with the hopeful “About You,” in which Jim thinks maybe it can work out this time (“You and me, we’ll win, you’ll see…There’s something warm in everything…There’s something good about you.”).
Many were expecting another loud, raucous shoegaze record after Psychocandy, but the Reid brothers took the band and their sound in a different direction for the follow-up. It was a good decision.
L-R Bobby Markos (Bass), Doyle Martin (Lyrics, Guitar), Tim Remis (Drums) Photo By Vin Romero
Cloakroom’s new single, “The Story of the Egg”, is concise and boundless all at once. Sonically a duality, Cloakroom’s influence of punchy and downpicked punk of the late 70s / early 80s is matched with lush and amorphous compositions. The single is about “the new found anxiety and stress from the alertness that comes with finally feeling the otherwise positive effects of a full night’s rest,” drummer Tim Remis explains. “There was a phenomenon of feeling anxious after working with a sleep doctor, realizing I spent most of my adult life without getting rest, had dulled my human sensations. Upon getting some deep sleep and rest, my new, heightened senses were overwhelming and I was left with a different feeling of anxiety.”
The Indiana three return next month with their next studio album, Last Leg of the Human Table – the follow up to 2022’s post-apocalyptic space western Dissolution Wave, and label debut for Closed Casket Activities. Each song showcases Cloakroom’s genre-bending capabilities and seemingly vast array of influences; whether it be the sampling of the post-disco Detroit group Was (Not Was) or the lifted NASA recording of the humming of Saturn’s rings. Recorded in December of 2023 at Electrical Audio in Chicago and Rec Room Recording in Des Plaines, Illinois, engineer Zac Montez (Whirr, Turnover) aided in smoothing out the rough and turning up the quiet.
For Cloakroom the world of modernity is in polycrisis and America has lost its soul. Narrative fetishism is all too usual of a literary mechanism for Cloakroom. If you listen closely you can hear the concern; not just for the teetering social structure but for what it means to be human and the high cost of the human experience.
Pop, shoegaze, doom, post-punk, folk only scratch the surface on Cloakroom’s shortest yet most essential release to date. Its title Last Leg of the Human Table may sound sardonic in its nature, but this group has always found some wonder in the scurrying chaos of modern life. In 37 minutes, the album imbues a sense of responsibility to the listener as if one leg were to falter, the whole table will fall.
Cloakroom have announced a headlining North American tour which kicks off in the Midwest next month. The run hits both coasts and includes dates with support from Null and performances at Slide Away 2025 in Los Angeles and New York City. See below for a full list of dates. For tickets and updates, follow Cloakroom on Instagram here.
Cloakroom Live Dates:
Mar 21: Paw Paw, MI – Lucky Wolf Mar 22: Detroit, MI – Edgemen Mar 23: Toronto, ON – Monarch Mar 24: Montreal, QC – Bar le Ritz PDB Mar 25: Kingston, NY – Tubby’s Mar 26: Boston, MA – Deep Cuts Mar 28: Philadelphia, PA – Ukie Club Mar 29: Washington, DC – DC9 Mar 30: Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 Apr 01: Asheville, NC – Eulogy Apr 02: Atlanta, GA – The Earl Apr 03: Pensacola, FL – The Handlebar Apr 05: Birmingham, AL – Saturn # Apr 06: Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light # Apr 08: Louisville, KY – Nachbar # Apr 09: Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups # Apr 11: Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club # Apr 12: Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle # (Album Release Show – Tickets) Apr 25: Brooklyn, NY – Slide Away 2025 at Market Hotel (Opening Show) May 25: Los Angeles, CA – Slide Away 2025 at The Echoplex (Closing Show)
GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Valerie June announces her new album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles, out April 11th via Concord Records, and releases its lead single “Joy, Joy!” alongside an accompanying video. Rooted in the belief that what we focus on is what we manifest, June dreams a songpath forward with Owls, Omens, and Oracles that leaves no one behind. Halfway through a decade of immense and rapid global change, June asserts a multidimensional Blackness steeped in laughter, truth, magic, delight, and interdependence. This album is a radical statement to break skepticism, surveillance, and doom scrolling – let yourself celebrate your aliveness. Connect, weep, change, open.
June has been softening and clarifying her sound since the 2013 release of Pushin’ Against A Stone, through The Order of Time, The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers, and Under Cover. “A willed and unblinking optimism courses through Valerie June’s songs” (New York Times); this newest work shows her own spiritual growth and the opening of ancestral channels into both her dynamic and distinct voice and her tender lyrics. June is not alone in crafting this sacred field for the contemplation of love and being human. Produced by M. Ward (Mavis Staples, She & Him) and engineered by Pierre de Reeder (Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis), Owls, Omens, and Oracles also features a cast of contributors, including The Blind Boys of Alabama and Norah Jones.
An instant foot-stompin’ hip-shaker, lead single “Joy, Joy!” opens the album with an undeniable exuberance. June, playing acoustic guitar, sings: “And when you feel you’re not enough / Has this old been hard and rough / A golden seed beneath dark soil / To seek the sun is often rough” while backed by Kaveh Rastegar on bass (John Legend, Beck), Steven Hodges on drums (Tom Waits, David Lynch), and keys and horn arrangements by Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band). In line with praise by the New Yorker, “[June’s] every quiver bespeaks emotional honesty.”
Reflecting on “Joy, Joy!,” June says: “Everyone has felt moments of darkness, depression, anxiety, stress, ailments, or pain. Some say it takes mud to have a lotus flower. This song reflects on the hard times we might face: to fail, to fall, to lose, to be held down, to be silenced, to be shut out yet still hold onto a purely innocent and childlike joy. I come from a heritage of ancestors who lived this truth by inventing blues music. Generations after they’ve gone, the inner joy they instilled in us radiates and lifts cultures throughout the world. From the world to home, what would a city council focused on inspiring inner joy for all of a town’s citizens look like? As the times are changing across the planet, what would it look like to collectively activate our superpowers of joy?”
Owls, Omens, and Oracles is expansive, growing from June’s psychedelic folk, indie rock, Appalachian, bluegrass, country soul, orchestral pop, and blues root system into an intergalactic web of wisdom. Every single note she sings is dusted with her “unorthodox, howling tin-pan of a voice” (ELLE), “like raw silk–intimate, elegant and strong” (Garden & Gun). The visceral twists and fierce raw emotion of her voice threads textures and tones through the needle of a multi-genre American quilt. Gracefulness and gentleness harmonize with edginess and precarity, evoking a tenderness within even the hardest heart as June holds the complexity of “My life is a country song,” and “I am multidimensional, beyond category.”
June recently announced the Owls, Omens, and Oracles Tour, which kicks off the week after the album release and runs through late June. All shows are full band; a full list of dates can be found below, and tickets can be purchased here.
Portions of the above text are pulled from an Owls, Omens, and Oracles bio by adrienne maree brown.
Valerie June Owls, Omens, and Oracles Tour Dates Thu, Mar. 27 – Gettysburg, PA @ Majestic Theater Tue. Apr. 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live Wed. Apr. 16 – Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere Music Hall Thu. Apr. 17 – Richmond, VA @ The National Fri. Apr. 18 – Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head Onstage Sat. Apr. 19 – Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head Onstage Tue. May 6 – New York, NY @ Town Hall Wed. May 7 – Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall Thu. May 8 – Brownfield, ME @ The Stone Mountain Arts Center Fri. May 9 – Albany, NY @ Swyer Theatre @ The Egg Sat. May 10 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall Sun. May 11 – Boston, MA @ City Winery Tue. May 27 – Ferndale, MI @ The Magic Bag Wed. May 28 – Chicago, IL @ Park West Thu. May 29 – Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium Fri. May 30 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre Sat. May 31 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre Sun. June 1 – Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theatre Tue. June 3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Annex Wed. June 4 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall Fri. June 13 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box Sat. June 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre Sun. June 15 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Lobero Theatre Tue. June 17 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre Wed. June 18 – San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts Theatre Fri. June 20 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall Sun. June 22 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
