"Everybody scream (ahhhhh!)." Happy spooky season to all who celebrate, and what better soundtrack than a new Florence and the Machine album? I'm spellbound by Everybody Scream, the sixth record from Florence Welch, which finds her wrestling with her role as a performer, her status among 'the greats', and who she is at home, away from her devoted followers. A side note: she and her dancers in the "Everybody Scream" music video would make a fantastic ensemble Halloween costume. I've seen my winner, though (and my colleagues will testify that I'd already said I hoped someone would do this), and it's TikTok user @profilepottery (Thefacevase) who went as a "Pussy Palace" (once again, thank you Lily Allen).
More thank yous: Bowers and Wilkins, who sent me a pair of their Px8 S2 headphones to take for a spin, they are spectacular. I'm no tech whiz so I can't exactly deepdive into the specifics of what makes them so good - all I know is they look gorgeous and sound even better. I love how they pick out the subtleties in production, from pop songs (I've been on a Zara Larsson high since she's my guest in this week's episode of Good Vibrations) to lush soul and R&B (still mourning D'Angelo) and full-throttle rock (I interviewed Jon Bon Jovi this week!). My colleague (and actual tech expert) Alex Lee gave them a proper in-depth (five-star) review in our IndyBest roundup, if you care to take a read.
This Sunday you can read my interview with Stephen Wilson Jr, one of the most unique and talented newcomers in a good while, who's currently cooking up a storm on the country music scene. We first met at the beginning of the year when he stopped by the studio for a Music Box session, then hung out backstage before his Shepherds Bush Empire gig in July, talking about his incredible debut album søn of dad and all that influenced it. We then caught up again when he was somewhere in Pittsburgh, still touring, having just released his latest EP Blankets. He's a truly wonderful man and a very special artist, so give him a listen if you haven't already.
Music I love this week: my jaw is still on the floor thanks to Rosalía's magnificent "Berghain", the lead song from her forthcoming album Lux featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, Bjork, Yves Tumor and the youth choir Escolania de Montserrat. Its classical influences seem heavily indebted to the explosive strings of a Vivaldi work or the intensity and grandeur of a Bach, while the orchestra enhances the requiem-like mood (bolstered further by the stunning music video, in which Rosalía plays a widower pursued by the same orchestra). Lyrically, she dives into themes of transformation and metamorphosis (singing in German, mind you) - "I'm just a sugar cube/ I know that the heat melts me/ I know how to disappear/ When you come, that's when I leave." She's 33 (the same age as Jesus when he died on the cross), and in the video she seems to die after a long period of suffering then be resurrected as a dove (a remark on the transcendental experience of desire or yearning?). It's just extraordinary.
I could talk about this all day but let's give some other music a shout-out: the excellent "Masquerade" from Knucks, and Luvcat's wonderful debut album Vicious Delicious. "Drift Away" from Orville Peck is giving Elvis in a western, I love it. "Mother" from Tyler, the Creator is one of my favourites from him in a while; MIKA is back with the dance-bop "Modern Times". There's an Australian band called The Belair Lip Bombs who I only heard about last week - they just dropped their new album Again and it's really bloody good.
My very own colleague, Louis Chilton, is in a band called Bad Times! and they recently put out their Hot Rock EP, which is really quite wonderful - if you're a Sparks fan I think you will definitely dig it. And Madra Salach, fast becoming one of my favourite bands in a good while, have released new single "I Was Just a Boy", a stirring folk-trad work that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Happy Halloween gang x
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