Tag: singer/songwriter \

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Julia Jacklin Shares Introspective “If I Had The Hand of God”

Acclaimed Melbourne-based singer/songwriter and musician Julia Jacklin will be releasing her highly-anticipated fourth album, the Robert Muiños and Jacklin co-produced, 10-song album  The Gem through 4AD Records digitally and on CD, cassette and vinyl on September 25, 2026. Exclusive color vinyl editions with retailers will include turquoise, green opal, ruby and rose quartz. Pre-order information can be found here.

The album will include the previously released “Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You),” the album’s closing track ” “I Wish” feat, Aussie folk sibling duo The Maes, “The Hardest Thing,” and the album’s latest single “If I Had The Hand of God,” a jangling that’s one-part song-as-story bit of country and one-part indie rock anthem. Written about a surreal trip to Nashville, “If I Had The Hand of God” is a lived-in, introspective meditation on the life of a touring musician and the importance — or unimportance — of legacy that’s both earnest and drenched in a bit of irony.

Directed by Nick Mcck, the accompanying video for “If I Had The Hand of God” begins with Jacklin making a call in a hotel room, before allowing the acclaimed Aussie wandering around Las Vegas with equal parts awe, exhaustion, bemusement and confusion. Oh and there’s a feathered showgirl hat at some point that looks incredibly heavy.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zachhae’us Paul Teams Up with donSMITH, Safa and Milena Casado on Down To Mars-Produced, Quiet Storm-like “STAY”

Atlanta-born and based producer, singe/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zacchae’us Paul will be releasing his highly-anticipated sophomore album JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B on October 16, 2026 through Candid Records. Sonically, the album sees the rising […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Leon Bridges Returns with Sultry and Soulful “Watch You Dance”

Atlanta-born, Fort Worth, TX-raised singer/songwriter and musician Leon Bridges quickly established himself as one of America’s most exciting new artists with 2015’s platinum-certified, Grammy Award-nominated debut Coming Home, which featured breakout singles “Coming Home” and “River.” Bridges followed up with 2018’s critically applauded Good Thing, which saw him expanding upon his sonic panic while earning a Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album and a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand.”

2021’s Gold-Diggers Sound was the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist’s most adventurous album to date, and the album received critical applause while earning another Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album. His most recent album, 2024’s Lean is an introspective effort inspired by his Texan roots and his artistic evolution.

Along with his solo work, Bridges has collaborated with the equally acclaimed act Khraungbin on two albums — 2020’s Texas Sun and 2022’s Texas Moon. In a relatively short time he has earned six Grammy Award-nomiations — three for Best R&B Album — and a Grammy Award-win, has also collaborated with an eclectic array of artists, including John Mayer, Kacey Musgraves, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Gunna, The Avanlanches, Gary Clark, Jr. and Shaboozey, all of which showcase a remarkably versatile artist.

Adding to a rapidly growing profile, Bridges has a long-held reputation as a captivating live performer, who has made a run of the global concert and festival circuit, playing an increasing number of the world’s major festivals while making appearances on Saturday Night Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and Austin City Limits.

Bridges’ fourth album, the J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto-produced fifth album, Happiness Anytime is slated for a Friday release through Columbia Records. Happiness Anytime reportedly sees the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist returning to the warmth of his 2015 debut but while seeing the members of Jungle and Bridges’ signature sensibilities blending to create something entirely new — an expansive, borderless sound and approach that pushes the Grammy Award-winning artist into brand new territory. The material reportedly echoes Fela Kuti, Paul Simon’s 1990 effort The Rhythm of The Saints and Jorge Ben without feeling overly referential. At its core, the album is reportedly boundary pushing while remaining unmistakably Leon Bridges, rooted in his imitable vocal, effortless charisma and melodic sensibilities.

The album was written and recorded across three fast and furious sessions with Lloyd-Watson and Kitto, a collaboration that can trace its origins to the trio repeatedly crossing paths across the global festival circuit. The trio decided to attempt a low-pressure writing session at Los Angeles-based Chaplin Recording Studios. Four days later, they had come up with six songs — half of the completed album. Pino Palladino contributed bass during the sessions. The overall end result is a timeless body of work that feels unfussy and breezy — that they all hope will make the listener feel happiness anytime they play it.

“For me, happiness is not a feeling that you chase,” Bridges says,“I want this album to be something that lingers with people and lingers in people’s bones. There’s this feeling that we have to fix the problems of the world; you feel inadequate or it can be debilitating. My role is to be light. I hope that comes across with this album.” With Happiness Anytime, Bridges actively sets out with a desire to not only find joy but to find movement again.

Early in his career, Bridges was out in front dancing — and that was something that has wanted recently. He wanted to get back to making music to dance to, music to excise the stresses and frustrations of modern life, and to feel grounded in the rhythms of the present. Interestingly, over the summer, he has been introducing audiences to the new album with sets in Paris, Cannes, Los Angeles, Montreux Jazz Festival, London, Chicago and Outside Lands. And as he has being playing the new material live, he has unveiled “Leon Bridges Presents Happiness Anytime,” a reimagined stage production featuring a vinyl DJ, a horn section, three backing vocalists and Bridges out in front dancing and singing. Partly inspired by the communal spirt of Jamaican dancehall culture, the live set mirrors the album’s emphasis on movement — and on dancing your stresses and frustrations away for a bit. You can see what the live show will look like during his most recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he performed medley of tunes from the soon-to-be-released album — the strutting Afrobeat-meets-1970s Motown soul-like “Light The Way” and “Illusion” and jubilant, joyous ode to working things out “Talk It Over.”

“Watch You Dance,” Happiness Anytime‘s latest single is a strutting and sultry bit of neo-soul meets classic soul that feels like a funky, dance floor friendly synthesis of Black Pumas, Cody Chesnutt, Daptone Records and Marvin Gaye‘s “Got To Give It Up” but anchored in old-school craft, earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism and a grown ass folks sensuality. The song’s narrator knows that seduction is a game that you have to play — and he knows how to play it well.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: James Tonic Returns with Dreamy “Wherever You Are”

James Tonic is a Montréal-born, New York-based dream pop artist, who over the course of seven albums firmly established a sound built on analog synths, live drums and unflinching lyrics. 2024’s Stuck in LA, an album inspired by the West Coast wound up being a breakthrough album for the Canadian-born artist: the album helped hi establish a fanbase, the old-fashioned way while selling out during the tour. 

Last year’s Safety, the first part of a planned dream pop trilogy was a nine-song effort that thematically touched on emotional survival. The second part of the trilogy, Safety II was released earlier this year, and featured a darker, more cinematic take on dream pop paired with sharper, edgier lyricism. Thematically, Safety II covers being wide open, fighting back quietly and spotting clear bits when everything seems hopelessly jumbled. Safety II includes “At The Time In New York,” and “Who’s Going Down.”

His latest single “Wherever You Are” is the first of four singles planed to be released weekly through October 1, 2026. Featuring atmospheric and twinkling synths, a supple R&B-styled bass line and driving rhythm beneath the Montréal-born, New York-based artist’s yearning falsetto, “Wherever You Are” is a seamless blend of Quiet Storm, alt pop and synth pop that showcases Tonic’s ability to pair catchy hooks with earnest lyricism. Tonic explains that the song is about the version of a relationship that never happened — and one level it’s one-part delusional and desperate hope, one-part wistful thinking, and one-part revisionist history. I

The Montréal-born, New York-based artist will be supporting both Safety and Safety II with a winter North American tour that will include a December 10, 2026 NYC show at the Sheen Center/Loreto Theater. For the rest of the tour dates, tickets and more, check out the following link: https://drummer.com/safety-tour

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Leon Bridges Performs “Happiness Anytime” Medley on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”

Leon Bridges performs “Happiness Anytime” medley on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Zacchae’us Paul Teams Up with DJ OOOCHILD, happy qavah, donSMITH, Keenyn Omari and Derzon Douglas on a Bold, Swaggering Rendition of a Gospel Tune

Atlanta-born and based producer, singe/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zacchae’us Paul will be releasing his highly-anticipated sophomore album JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B on October 16, 2026 through Candid Records. Sonically, the album sees the rising Atlanta-based artist crating an effortless blend of jazz, R&B, neo-soul and hip-hop that features razor sharp beats complementing nimble, acoustic jazz drumming, emcees effortlessly spitting bars alternating with jazz solos.There’s R&B-styled crooning and sangin.’ There are producer tags, interludes and spoken word sections. And it’s all anchored in jazz improvisation and cinematic storytelling influenced by hip-hop’s golden age.

JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN’ R&B will include the previously released “LOOK TO THE SKY” and “SHE F*CK WITH THE RACKS,” as well as its third and latest single, the Zacchae’us Paul and DJ OOOCHILD co-produced “BETTER MUST COME” feat. happy qavah, donSMITH, Keenyn Omari and Derzon Douglas. “BETTER MUST COME” is a bold, swaggering and decidedly contemporary reinterpretation of a gospel tune that retains the uplift and positivity of the original while pushing a familiar song forward into a completely new, radio and lounge friendly territory.

“I knew I wanted a song on this album that centered on God’s love, and I wanted to reinterpret a hymn in a way that felt authentic to my musical language,” Zacchae’us Paul says. “Rather than simply covering the hymn, I wanted to reimagine it through the lens of Swingin’ R&B. I’m especially proud of how this track came together. It captures exactly what I hoped this album would represent: honoring tradition while pushing it forward in my own voice.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Skinshape Returns with Summery “Take It As It Is”

Will Dorey is a London-based producer, singer/songwriter, producer and creative mastermind behind the solo recording project, Skinshape. And with Skinshape, the London-based artist has established himself as a master of understated soundscapes, blending rich textures with an array of eclectic influences from around the world. Dorey’s work is known for being imbued with warmth, depth and a timeless character.

Every Skinshape effort reflects the London-based artist’s meticulous approach to composition and production, rooted in the distinct sonic identity made possible by the vintage analog recording equipment he uses. 

The London-based artist’s 11th Skinshape album, Chapman’s Pool is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Lewis Recordings. Deriving its title from a secluded bay on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, near Dorey’s childhood home, the album draws from the landscapes that have remained a constant source of inspiration throughout his career.

Written, self-produced and self-recorded at Dorey’s Finsubry Park-based studio with minimal Chapman’s Pool covers a variety of styles and sounds and sees Dorey revisiting his first two Skinshape albums to some degree while featuring more Mellotron and glockenspiel. Most of the album’s instrumentation — guitar, bass, piano, keys, synths, drum machines and the like — was played by Dorey, with the exception of drums, which were played by Tom Blind and Dan Hale. Various field recordings were captured outside the studio. including the sound of waves lapping the shore close to Chapman’s Pool and a car driving past.

Chapman’s Pool will include the previously released “The Blade of a Knife” and its latest single, “Take It As It Is.” Built around a swaggering and strutting groove that seemingly channels Bobby Oroza, the Daptone Records crew and Moscow‘s The Diasonics, “Take It As It Is” is a summery and escapist tune rooted in a blend of old-fashioned British stoicism and Zen calm that feels — well, remarkably necessary as our world burn down and descends into chaos. The song’s narrator implores the listener to do as the old British saying “keep calm and carry on.” “It’s about how we should accept life as it is, with its ups and downs,” Dorey explains. “It focuses on the mental troubles we all face and some reflections on how we may deal with this.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Leon Bridges Shares Strutting and Buoyant “Talk It Over”

Atlanta-born, Fort Worth, TX-raised singer/songwriter and musician Leon Bridges quickly established himself as one of America’s most exciting new artists with 2015’s platinum-certified, Grammy Award-nominated debut Coming Home, which featured breakout singles “Coming Home” and “River.” Bridges followed up with 2018’s critically applauded Good Thing, which saw him expanding upon his sonic panic while earning a Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album and a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand.”

2021’s Gold-Diggers Sound was the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist’s most adventurous album to date, and the album received critical applause while earning another Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album. His most recent album, 2024’s Lean is an introspective effort inspired by his Texan roots and his artistic evolution.

Along with his solo work. he has collaborated with equally acclaimed act Khraungbin on two albums — 2020’s Texas Sun and 2022’s Texas Moon. Bridges who has earned six Grammy Award-nominations — three for Best R&B Album — and a Grammy Award-win, has also collaborated with an eclectic array of artists, including John Mayer, Kacey Musgraves, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Gunna, The Avanlanches, Gary Clark, Jr. and Shaboozey, all of which showcase a remarkably versatile artist.

Adding to a rapidly growing profile, Bridges has a long-held reputation as a captivating live performer, who has made a run of the global concert and festival circuit, playing an increasing number of the world’s major festivals while making appearances on Saturday Night Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and Austin City Limits.

Bridges fourth album, the J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto-produced fifth album, Happiness Anytime is slated for a September 25, 2026 release through Columbia Records. Happiness Anytime reportedly sees the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist returning to the warmth of his 2015 debut but while seeing the members of Jungle and Bridges’ signature sensibilities blending to create something entirely new — an expansive, borderless sound and approach that pushes the Grammy Award-winning artist into band new territory. The material reportedly echoes Fela Kuti, Paul Simon’s 1990 effort The Rhythm of The Saints and Jorge Ben without feeling referential. At its core, the album is reportedly boundary pushing while remaining unmistakably Leon Bridges, rooted in his imitable vocal, effortless charisma and melodic sensibilities.

The album was written and recorded across three fast and furious sessions with Lloyd-Watson and Kitto, a collaboration that can trace its origins to the trio repeatedly crossing paths across the global festival circuit. The trio decided to attempt a low-pressure writing session at Los Angeles-based Chaplin Recording Studios. Four days later, they ha come up with six songs — half of the completed album. Pino Palladino contributed bass during the sessions. The end result is a timeless body work of that feels unfussy and breezy — that they all hope will make the listener feel happiness anytime they play it.

“For me, happiness is not a feeling that you chase,” Bridges says,“I want this album to be something that lingers with people and lingers in people’s bones. There’s this feeling that we have to fix the problems of the world; you feel inadequate or it can be debilitating. My role is to be light. I hope that comes across with this album.” With Happiness Anytime, Bridges actively sets out with a desire to not only find joy but to find movement again.

Early in his career, Bridges was out in front dancing — and that was something that has wanted recently. He wanted to get back to making music to dance to, music to excise the stresses and frustrations of modern life, and to feel grounded in the rhythms of the present. Interestingly, over the summer, he has been introducing audiences to the new album with sets in Paris, Cannes, Los Angeles, Montreux Jazz Festival, London, Chicago and Outside Lands. And as he has being playing the new material live, he has unveiled “Leon Bridges Presents Happiness Anytime,” a reimagined stage production featuring a vinyl DJ, a horn section, three backing vocalists and Bridges out in front dancing and singing. Partly inspired by the communal spirt of Jamaican dancehall culture, the live set mirrors the album’s emphasis on movement — and on dancing your stresses and frustrations away for a bit.

In the meantime, Bridges recently released the second of three, 4-song EPs that will comprise the entire album. The second EP features album title track “Happiness Anytime,” “All Day All Night” feat. Lydia Kitto, “Fly Baby,” and “Talk It Over.” Featuring a strutting and jubilant, dance at the function groove beneath Bridges’ effortless, old-school soul-inspired delivery, “Talk It Over” is an ode to working things out and trying to make it all work that seemingly channels a blend of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” and The Rhythm of the Saints while showcasing his unerring knack for catchy hooks.

Directed by D+Y and shot in Amsterdam, the accompanying video features Bridges and a multi-racial collection of beautiful dancers performing choreography by the Plue Agency. The video is centered around the album’s inspirations — movement, dancing and ebullient, infectious joy. And honestly, we could all use a lot more joy in our lives.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy’s Summery Remix of Joshua Idehen’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once”

After nearly two decades in London‘s poetry scene, Joshua Idehen found widespread recognition with the viral success of “Mum Does The Washing,” a poignant, witty pice set to music by his creative partner Ludvig Parment, a.k.a. Saturday, Monday. The success of “Mum Does The Washing” led to sold-out shows, major festival appearances — including Glastonbury — and a new chapter in Idehen’s artistic life. 

Initially drawn to film, Idehen’s poetic journey began after being captivated by Dizzee Rascal‘s Vexed on Channel U. Inspired by Scroobius Pip, he began doing poetry with music, collaborating with the likes of LV, Benin City and Sons of Kemet. His career as a singer/songwriter/performer coincided alongside a series of personal challenges, including a divorce and mental health struggles. Relocating to Stockholm during the COVID-19 pandemic gave him space to reflect and begin anew. 

That period of rebirth led to Idehen’s highly-anticiapted debut album, I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try, which was released earlier this year through Heavenly Recordings. Made with his longtime collaborator Parment, the album is a sonic embrace for the weary, mixing house-tinged beats, choral flourishes and lyrical meditations on hope, self-worth and collective resilience.

The album includes the previously released “It Always Was,” “Don’t Let It Get You Down,” and “This Is The Place.” Idehen and Heavenly Recordings shared Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy’s Cosmodelica remix of I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone is Hurting. Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try track “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The album version features Idehen’s vocal over an atmospheric, gently throbbing production to create a song that simultaneously sounds like a house music-inspired take on The Streets and a paranoid, sleepless walk with the narrator’s rapid-fire thoughts during the uneasy isolation of COVID restrictions and lockdowns. The summery Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy’s Cosmodelica remix pairs Idehen’s vocal with a buoyant house music production featuring a bouncing and strutting bass line, a playful percussive rhythm and glistening synths. The remix opens the curtains and parts the clouds to reveal bit of sunshine in the gloom, giving the song a deeper sense of resilience through the think of it, even if you have to fake it.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Drums Teams Up with Mareux on Chilly and Brooding “It Didn’t Matter”

New York-based songwriter and producer Jonny Pierce is the creative mastermind of the acclaimed and beloved recording project The Drums. Since the project’s formation back in 2010, Pierce has released six albums, cultivating a fiercely loyal fanbase through sharp songwriting and a timeless blend of indie pop, surf rock and post-punk.

The Drums have consistently sold-out headlining tours across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia, while making multiple runs of the global festival circuit, playing sets at Coachella, Primavera Sound, Outside Lands, Corona Capital and Lollapalooza. Pierce’s work has appeared in film, television and global campaigns for brands, including Volkswagen. Their breakthrough single “Money” has taken on a remarkable second life, fueled by viral TikTok trends that have introduced the song to millions of new listeners. Recently certified platinum, “Money” has amassed hundreds of millions of streams while simultaneously resonating with fans both old and new.

Iranian American artist Aryan Ashtiani is the creative mastermind behind the goth-inspired project Marueax. His career has been a stratospheric rise: Ashtiani played his first sold-out Mareaux show in June, after his viral cover of The Cure’s ‘The Perfect Girl” lit up the internet, eventually being certified platinum in the States and gold in France. Less than a year later, Ashtiani played Coachella, embarked on two US tours and a European tour, while landing sets across the international festival circuit.

Having helped spark a resurgence of internet in post-punk and dark wave among a constantly online new generation, Maruex finds himself at the forefront of the latest innovative strain of goth. “I want to become a gateway to older subcultural genres for people who are just discovering alternative music today,” the rising Iranian American artist says.

Building upon a rapidly rising profile, he released his debut album 2023’s Lovers From The Past, and quickly establishing his brand through cult favorite videos for “Night Vision” and “Lovers From The Past.” Last year’s Nonstop Romance saw the rising Iranian American artist prioritizing feel and vibe over clarity rooted in his desire to “make every day about making someone happy and giving them the best life possible.”

Ashtiani will continue to support Nonstop Romance with a European tour and East Coast tour to close out 2026.

Last week, Pierce launched a new label, Abysmal Records. He founded the label as a home for collaboration experimentation and emerging artists he deeply believes in. The label’s first single “It Didn’t Matter” is a collaboration with Pierce’s The Drums and Ashtiani’s Maruex. “It Didn’t Matter” feat. Mareux not only kicks off Abysmal Records in grand style, it’s the first of a six-month series of collaborative singles originating from recording sessions with a handpicked group of artists over the past two years, artists whose work has inspired Pierce and whose work he wanted to amplify.

Built around a sleek and chilly, darkwave-inspired motorik paired with Ashtiani’s yearning, heartbroken delivery, “It Didn’t Matter” is a brooding tune featuring a narrator desperately seeking an explanation. Throughout the song’s runtime, Ashtiani’s narrator expresses feelings of confusion and foolishness over a heartbreak with difficult to ignore pleas. The result is a song grounded in a deep, psychological realism that gives the song a walloping emotional punch.

“Not since writing my earliest music has a song come together so effortlessly. Whenever that happens, it makes me feel certain the song was meant to exist—that it needed to be here, for all of us,” Jonny Pierce says of the collaboration. “Mareux’s synthesizer wizardry threw me back to my teenage years, when almost everything I listened to was synthesizer-based music, especially synth-pop. His sounds, textures, and perfect pop chord changes reminded me of the soundtrack to such a tender time in my life—when I was desperate for love but just couldn’t find it, and synthesizers became the soundtrack to my sadness. This one is for those of us who keep banging our heads against the wall of another heart, only to be given nothing in return.”

The Abysmal Records series will pave the way for The Drums’ 12th album, which is planned for a 2027 release.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Skinshape Shares Shimmering and Introspective “The Blade of a Knife”

Will Dorey is a London-based producer, singer/songwriter, producer and creative mastermind behind the solo recording project, Skinshape. And with Skinshape, the London-based artist has established himself as a master of understated soundscapes, blending rich textures with an array of eclectic influences from around the world. Dorey’s work is known for being imbued with warmth, depth and a timeless character.

Every Skinshape effort reflects the London-based artist’s meticulous approach to composition and production, rooted in the distinct sonic identity made possible by the vintage analog recording equipment he uses.

The London-based artist’s 11th Skinshape album, Chapman’s Pool derives its name from a a secluded bay on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, near Dorey’s childhood home. The album draws inspiration from the landscapes that have remained a constant source of influence throughout his career.

Chapman’s Pool’s first single “The Blade of a Knife” is a shimmering tune that sounds as though it draws from psych soul, Northern soul and troubadour pop — and in a way that reminds me a bit of The Beach Boys, Bobby Oroza, Common Saints, and others. Rooted in an deeply introspective lyricism, the song is poignant, seemingly lived-in ode to the vicious cycles and loops that can wrap us up in down times, but while keeping a sliver of light — just in view. “This song was written about the mental struggles one faces in life. How we are a slave to our mind and the habits we form go round and round day after day. We wish to be free of our confusion as it stabs us like the ‘Blade of a Knife.'”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: EELS Shares Two Gorgeous Songs from Forthcoming Album “COOKIE HAPPENED”

Since 1996’s full-length debut, Beautiful Freak, EELS the ever-evolving, critically applauded project of its creative mastermind, singer/songwriter, musician and producer E (Mark Oliver Everett) have combined heartbreak, humor, curiosity and emotional honesty in an expansive catalog that continues to resonate with audiences across the globe.

E’s 16th EELS album, COOKIE HAPPENED is slated for an October 16, 2026 release through E Works/Play It Again Sam. The album, which follows 2024’s EELS TIMES! reportedly finds the EELS creative mastermind turning his gaze inward towards life’s small victories, inevitable disappointments and the strange miracle of having been here at all, continuing a remarkable run of material that finds meaning and pathos in life’s messiest, strangest moments.

COOKIE HAPPENED will include the previously released “Cap In Hand,” and the album’s next two singles, “All Forgotten” and “I’m On Standby” “All Forgotten” is a meditative song built around strummed guitar and sweeping, cinematic strings beneath E’s gravelly vocal, which expresses a hard-fought mix of heartbreak, defiant pride and optimism on a song that explores mortality — with a sense of awe, acceptance and gratitude for the 1 in 70+ trillion chance that puts the song’s narrator at this particular place and time, because all is forgotten in due time.

“You can find the idea of your existence ending troubling or comforting.” E explains. “I try to lean towards the comforting take whenever possible: For thousands, millions of years you didn’t exist, and you and the world were fine. You’ll be fine not existing again. This is what hit songs are written about, right?”

“I’m On Standby” is by contrast is warm, melodic ode to unwavering friendship featuring a narrator expressing the comfort of knowing that your best friend in the entire world will always be there when you need them most — and that you would do the same for them in return. Certainly, when times are tough — and they get rough more often than not — having a deep friendship that you can depend on will keep you afloat, E says: “If you’re lucky you have a friend you’re always there for and vice versa. Bitch, I’ve always got time for you.”

Ahead of the release of COOKIE HAPPENED, fans can revisit E’s celebrated catalog as, for the first time evermore the definitive Meet The Eeels: The Essential EELS Vol, 1 (1996-2006) will be now available on vinyl. Originally released digitally back in 2008, this limited release will feature 24 of the project’s iconic tracks, including “Novocaine for the Soul,” “Susan’s House” “I Need Some Sleep” and more across a 2LP yellow gold 140g vinyl set. The vinyl edition will drop on Friday, July 31, 2026.

Beyond music E is also the author of the acclaimed memoir, Things the Grandchildren Should Know and the subject of the award-winning documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, which explored his relationship with his father, the pioneering quantum physicist Hugh Everett III.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Love Spells Returns with Flirty “Don’t Touch”

Sir Teagan Harris is the Houston-born creative mastermind behind the rising, solo recording project Love Spells. At 18, Harris poured his passion for love into music, manifesting a career out of ambition and drive, while battling homelessness for years. Eventually, he wound up in California, where he lived with a friend he met online, traveling to different music studios everyday to perfect his sound. After six months, he returned to Houston and received a call from Kevin Abstract, who invited him to work on his most recent album, last year’s Bluish.

Working on Kevin Abstract’s Blush connected Harris to his now frequent collaborators Dominic Fike and Deb Never. That life changing experience pushed Harris to return to Los Angeles and work on his highly-anticipated Love Spells debut, LOVE IS THE LAW. Released this past Friday through RCA Records, the rising Houston-based artist’s debut album seems him working with a talented cast of collaborators including Danny Parra, Boy Deco, Brad Hale, Rodaidh McDonald, Alex Craig, and Rick Nowels to create material that recalled his nights at Numbers, a beloved Houston area dance club and safe heaven for alternative communities.

While spending time at Numbers, Harris frequently danced to 70s, 80s and New Wave, and he specifically wanted to inject that particular genre-blurring feeling into his work, seeking out similar spaces in Los Angeles and leaning heavily on those eras in the studio. Movies like Dirty Dancing and Footlose were also sources of inspiration, helping the Houston-based artist and his collaborators craft a “theatrical yet authentic” feeling.

Our lives revolve around love, it governs nearly every aspect of human life,” Harris says of the record. “LOVE IS THE LAW is a grand declaration, it’s in your face and there’s nothing to hide. The album title means exactly what it says – to hold love above everything else. That message is something I’ll declare for the rest of my life.”

LOVE IS THE LAW will include the previously released “Crutch,” “Keep It To Yourself,““Maybe I Still Love You” and the album’s latest single “Don’t Touch.” “Don’t Touch” is sultry and seductive bit of honky tonk-inspired pop built around a strutting and twangy acoustic guitar and shimmering pedeal steel beneath Harris’ aching falsetto. Lyrically nodding at Prince‘s “Raspberry Beret” and The Georgia Satellites‘ “Keep Your Hands To Yourself,” “Don’t Touch” features a narrator, who tells a story of a meet cute with a mysterious stranger, who knows the art of seduction — and gets what she wants.

Directed and choreographed by Shay Latukolan, the accompanying video for “Don’t Touch” is set in a half-filled Texas honky tonk and features dance and movement as a form of seduction between the video’s incredibly attractive central couple.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gotts Street Park and Celeste Team Up on Soulful Lament “Easy”

Acclaimed Leeds-based trio Gotts Street Park— Josh Crocker (bass, production), Tom Henry (keys) and Joe Harris (guitar) —acclaimed full-length debut, 2023’s On The Inside included “Got To Be Good” feat. Pip Millettt, “Fuego,” “Mountains” feat. ENNY and “Tell Me Why” feat. Olive Jones. And in the subsequent years since its release, the album has amassed over 300 million streams across all DPS with “Got To Be Good” landing in Season Three of BBC’s hit series Boarders and this year’s Finding Emily starring Spike Fearn and Minnie Driver.

Their sophomore album Somewhere Between is slated for an October 16, 2026 release through Play It Again Sam. Somewhere Between is reportedly a departure from the soul, jazz and hip-hop influenced sound of their previously released work, with the album drawing inspiration from Bill Orcutt, Dylan Day, Dick Gaughan, Jessica Pratt, Big Thief and Blaze Foley, as well as the working methods of the house bands at Stax Records and Sun Records. The result is an album that combines the collective’s signature production prowess with an even greater warmth than before, as they also draw on the spirit of the 1970s troubadour singer/songwriter movement with a cast of long-time collaborators that include Celeste, Olive Jones, Pip Millett, Matt Maltese, Sofia and The Antoinettes, anaiis and Rosie Lowe.

In an era increasingly defined by automation and AI, Somewhere Between is threaded throughout with a quiet faith as music as an inherently human act — one shared by intimation, openness and the intangible chemistry of people in a room creating together. “The title only arrived once the album was finished, and it means something slightly different to each of us,” the members of the acclaimed Leeds-based band explain. “For me, it reflects the space that collaboration creates, a place where our individual lives, moods and experiences overlap for a while to make something together. We’re all arriving from different places, but in the studio those separate worlds meet. There’s something about making music that feels like stepping into a space between the tangible and the intangible, where ideas seem to come from somewhere beyond ourselves. In many ways, that’s what this album represents: meeting somewhere between who we are individually and what we can create together.”

The album will include the previously released, acclaimed track “Some Birds Don’t Fly” feat Matt Maltese, and the album’s latest single “Easy” feat. Celeste. The Brit Award and Academy Award-nominated artist Celeste’s achingly soulful and jazzy, AmyWinehouse-meets-classic soul-like delivery strutting over a shimmering, bass-driven Daptone-like arrangement with subtle hip-hop influences.

Thematically, “Easy” examines the push and pull of a romantic relationship that’s way too complicated than what it needs to be. And as a result, the song is centered on the narrator’s bittersweet and lament-fueled realization that it’s time to move on — with the hope that she’ll find the love she deserves.

“‘Easy’ came from one of our very first sessions with Celeste around eight years ago,’ Gotts Street Park explains. “There’s a rawness and spontaneity to it that captures those early days of working together. Nothing felt overthought or overworked, which gave Celeste the space to completely own the song through her performance. We’ve held onto it for a long time, so it’s exciting to finally have the opportunity to share it.” 

The band have begun to support the forthcoming album with their Somewhere Here World Tour, which bean with a set at this year’s Montréal Jazz Festival. The tour includes an appearance at the inaugural London edition of The Roots Picnic and at this year’s Newport Jazz Festival, as well as a July 30, 2026 stop at Le Poisson Rouge. Check out the North American leg dates below.