The Decemberists pair their signature folk sound with a newer art-rock arrangement on “Once in My Life.” The single begins with singer Colin Meloy belting “Oh, for once in my life/ Could just something go right?” over acoustic guitar. The track takes a vehement turn with synths, tremolo guitar drones and processed drum sounds. “Once in My Life” is the Decemberists’ second single from their upcoming eighth LP, I’ll Be Your Girl, following “Severed.” The quintet embraced...

Nashville songwriter is one of indie rock’s most relatable heartbreak kids While no shortage of American liberal-arts undergrads have wondered whether the degree they’re working toward will be any use in the real world, for 20-year-old singer-songwriter Sophie Allison, those doubts got too loud to ignore. “It got to the point where I would be in class emailing my agent,” says Allison, who, until recently, was a music-business major at New York University. Her escape plan: Going all-in on her...

Vince Staples defends his “avant-garde” creative choices and blasts the Grammy Awards for ignoring his acclaimed 2017 LP, Big Fish Theory, on the new song “Get the Fuck Off My Dick.” “I ain’t taking no more calls, might think ’bout calling it quits/ Press is trying to block my blessings; no more talking to Vince,” he rhymes over layered piano lines and distorted vocal samples. “NPR and XXL: Man, I can’t tell which is which/ Missed the mark; I think...

Rob Halford is the leather-clad avatar who has helped define heavy metal’s look and sound with his daring biker chic and triumphant screeches over the past 50 years with Judas Priest. He also does a mean Bob This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Judas Priest on Their Half-Century Heavy-Metal...

Bleachers‘ Jack Antonoff appeared on The Tonight Show Thursday speaking about writing Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day” and the uncertainty of the songwriting process. “We wrote that song in a second, because we didn’t plan to write it. If you plan to write like a ballad or something like that, you always get a little bit less than you hopeful,” Antonoff said of the Reputation track. “We wrote that in and then the scratch take in my home, and then we played it.”...

Jimi played guitar, jamming good with Billy and Buddy and the Experience – no, wait, that was Ziggy. But Hendrix was almost certainly a model for Bowie’s space crawler, an electric deity who sacrificed himself as he took it all too far. His music was haunted by death from the start – “Will I live tomorrow?” he asked on his first album – and he chased after it at a furious pace, recording more than 70 times in the year...

British alt-rock outfit Snow Patrol will release their first album in seven years, Wildness, May 25th via Republic. The group teased the record with a new trailer that features Snow Patrol playing a stomping pop-rock tune layered with orchestral flourishes. The clip also features footage of interpretative dancers and frontman Gary Lightbody playing a lonesome astronaut staring down at Earth. Wildness follows Snow Patrol’s 2011 record, Fallen Empires, and finds the group reuniting with longtime producer Jackknife Lee. “There are...

Demi Lovato joins DJ Khaled on “I Believe,” a bouncy anthem of self-affirmation set to appear on the upcoming soundtrack for A Wrinkle in Time. Lovato and DJ Khaled – currently on tour together through the end of March – are a natural pairing: “I Believe” is a meeting of maximalists. Lovato sings with her usual boisterous enthusiasm, torching through platitudes like, “tough times don’t last, but tough people do/ As long as you’ve got hope, you’ll find a way.”...

Pussy Riot take aim at abuses of power in “Bad Apples,” a ferociously minimal electronic track released Thursday.  The band worked on “Bad Apples” with TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, who helped concoct an electro punk-rap track that could have come out in 1986. Programmed drums clatter and smash next This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Hear Pussy Riot, Dave Sitek Condemn Corruption on ‘Bad...

DJ Khaled expounds on why he’s calling his eleventh studio album Father of Asahd in an open letter. In an accompanying video montage of home footage, the hip-hop producer spoke about how Asahd, his son (and recent executive producer), changed his outlook on life – and therefore, his career.  “Love turns bad to good, dark to light, losing to wining,” the producer says over shots of the father-son pair vacationing, playing at home, swimming and chatting on the red carpet with Ryan Seacrest....

Wilco guitarist Nels Cline is introducing a new jazz band, the Nels Cline 4. The group’s upcoming debut LP, Currents, Constellations, is out April 13th. The quartet includes guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Tom Rainey. The band previewed the album with lead single “Imperfect 10,” a funk strut filled with harmonized electric guitar leads, double-bass thumps and cymbals.  The Nels Cline 4 will mark the LP release with a show at New York City’s (le) poisson rouge...

U2, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen are among the myriad artists prepping special releases for This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: U2, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen Prep Record Store Day...

The hottest category in tech right now is smart speakers: wireless speakers that have a brain (either Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa) and respond to voice control. Now that Apple’s long-awaited HomePod is finally here, we rounded up the latest and greatest smart speakers and tested them to find out which is the best for you – whether you’re an audiophile or just someone who This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Smart Speakers: The Ultimate 2018...

Niall Horan tries to find love in an arid place in the sun-soaked video for “On the Loose.” The track appears on the former One Direction singer’s debut solo album, This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Watch Niall Horan Scour the Desert for Love in ‘On the Loose’...

Tina Tchen, a co-founder of Time’s Up and chief of staff to former First Lady Michelle Obama, will helm the Recording Academy’s task force on gender bias in the music industry, Billboard reports. Tchen will lead a 15- to 20-person team This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Time’s Up Co-Founder to Lead Grammys’ Gender Bias Task...

The owner of the Washington Avenue Armory, a performance venue in Albany, NY, filed a lawsuit against Migos on Monday, local alt-weekly The Alt reports. A separate suit was also filed by Sharome Ross, who alleges that he was attacked while attending Migos’ show at the This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Migos Sued for Allegedly Inciting Concert Brawl in...

“Weird Al” Yankovic not only kicked off his Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour last week, but he also released “Hamilton Polka,” which somehow manages This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Flashback: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s First Polka...

Wayne Kramer, original guitarist and songwriter for MC5, will mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s Kick Out the Jams album with a tour and new memoir. Kick Out the Jams was originally recorded live over two nights in the fall of 1968 before its 1969 release. In a statement, Kramer This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: MC5’s Wayne Kramer Announces 50th Anniversary Tour, New...

Rock outfit Evanescence and electric violinist Lindsey Stirling will unite for a co-headlining North American tour this summer. The trek starts July 6th at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri and includes stops in Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and more. The tour wraps September 8th at the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater in Ridgefield, Washington. Tickets for most shows go on sale March 9th at 10 a.m. local time via Live Nation (on-sale dates for concerts in Chicago and Atlanta...

Declan McKenna performed a stripped-down, acoustic mini-set for the latest installment of Rolling Stone‘s “Take One” performance series. The 19-year-old Brit showcased his soulful voice and simple, hooky song structures during the segment, featuring material from his debut album, 2017’s What Do You Think About the Car? 50 Best Albums of 2017 Taylor Swift clapped back, Kendrick Lamar got personal, Lorde threw a high-concept party and more After teasing the signature guitar riff from Heart hit “Barracuda,”...