British rock stars KASABIAN, fronted by bt their singer-songwriter Serge Pizzorno, one of the best bands of the past 25 years on record and on stage, in my book, are gearing up for their 9th longplayer, baptized ACT III.
Press info: “Draped in Serge’s instantly recognisable hazy vocals, the album is 10 tracks
of guitar-driven, psyche-infused pop and 3 interludes. Packed to the brim with hooks
and a strong dose of swagger, the album cements Kasabian as one of the UK’s most essential bands of the 21st century. ”
As fans know, since frontman Tom Meighan was fired in 2020, the band (read Pizzorno) slid slowly into a more dance-pop-oriented direction. These 3 tasters show you what Kasabian 2.0 is all about.
Press info: The follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed ‘I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a fuck anymore 👍‘, this new record is rich with the duo’s trademark wit and dark humour, whilst creating moments from quiet brooding to a self-described “disco-metal incantation that might make you dance”. The album was recorded with long-time collaborator Paul Savage (Mogwai, Belle and Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand).
TUTV: Thus far we got 3 hopped-up disco-enraptured titillations.
After nearly three decades, the Scots are up to something bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed to overcrowd dancefloors with.
Cincinnati‘s rock bigshots THE AFGHAN WHIGS fronted by generalGreg Dulli, celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band. They’ll share the milestone with their fans on the road (1st leg already done) and with a new album, their 10th.
It’s named SOFT CONTROL, and it’ll hit the streets on August 21th. Pre-order info here.
Press info: “The new album is testament to the old David Bowie quote, where he describes aging as “an extraordinary process where you become the person you always
should have been.”
By now, the volatile years of band leader Greg Dulli’s youth have been substituted with a wry and self-aware satori. The edge and sensitive temperament remain but the unchecked infernos of ego and rage no longer threaten personal immolation. And Dulli’s vocals are simultaneously the strongest and most delicate that they’ve ever been.”
Album artwork
The album captures The Afghan Whigs’ unique ability to conflagrate stab you in your
nose bone guitars and cubist refractions of soul and R&B. There is a reconciliation of
loud volume and somber reflections, living life with joy and purpose while keeping
one eye on the clock and remaining aware of the absurdity. ”
Greg Dulli: “I’ve worked hard on my inner peace. I was an angry young man, and it fueled
my art, ambition and my drive. I wouldn’t change anything because I can’t. But as I got into photography and other art forms, I realized that I’m not in competition with anyone, including myself. Now, I know what I’m doing and there’s a quiet confidence that comes with being able
to back it up.”
Ahead of the LP’s launch, we get have 4 singles, thus far.
– HOUSE OF I –
As Dulli describes the track as
‘an uptempo banger’. It is.
– MY LOVER –
Galvanic power ballad.
– DUVATEEN –
Dulli: “I’m at a precipice in life where I can look behind and clearly see the forest of my youth, but I can also see the path to the other side. And it’s going to inform what I do for the rest of my days.”
But the wait is over. Full-length number 11, named DIOS BENDIGA (Spanish for ‘God Bless’) is out now. An album performed entirely in Spanish that aims to highlight their Latin roots and reconnect directly with their cultural heritage.
Press info: “Hip-hop legends Cypress Hill were the first Latino-American hip-hop
group to achieve platinum and multiplatinum success. In partnership with Hybe
Latin America, they present the first, fully Spanish-language album of their career.
This is a deeply personal and spiritual project for the group that highlights
their Latin roots and reconnects directly with their cultural heritage.”
TUTV: Prepare your ears, your hips, and by extension your whole body for a hip-rap-hop summer fiesta. With Cypress Hill, cocktail-flavored fun is guaranteed. Their word-waterfall dynamism and insane-in-the-brain eurhythmics are key (once again).
MAGA idiots will probably whine again that American artists sing in Spanish (remember their Bad Bunny hate?). Que se jodan! Music doesn’t have (language) boundaries.
Once upon a time Bob Dylan sang “I would not feel so all alone / Everybody must get stoned.” Dios Bendiga has the vivid vibes to get high (with/without weed). Shake your booty, folks.
Press info: “An odyssey of anarchic joy, seditious wit and boundless energy, the album finds Josh Law and Ben Sadler pushing deeper into the singular world they have been building for years, while opening up new emotional and lyrical ground. The record was written in green rooms, on long car journeys and in the gaps between relentless touring.
It stands as their boldest and most expansive statement to date, an ode to childhood, British cultural detritus and the absurd poetry of everyday life, distilling everything that has made Getdown Services one of the most exhilarating and unpredictable bands around. In the band’s words it is “about self pity and realising that maybe all of the healing your inner child stuff you hear about isn’t actually total bollocks. Musically and lyrically I think it’s about us trying to clean up our act a bit.”
The tandem gave us 3 previews, thus far. Three pelvis-shaking groovers.
Artist: LENNY KAYE Who: Best known as the longtime guitarist for
more than 50 years, of Patti Smith‘s band.
Album: GOIN’ LOCAL
At 79, and after a zillion years in the music
business, Kaye released his solo debut LP.
Kaye: “I feel like I’m a new artist. I think this album will surprise
those who think they know me from what I’ve done previously.”
📸: @bob_gruen
Mojo: “His unguarded tenderness can be disarmingly guileless,
an unexpected and welcome evolution from the godfather of
garage rock.”
TUTV: Well, you’re obviously never too old to put out your debut LP. Of course,
after half a decade playing in Patti Smith’s band, Kaye knows what is needed to
deliver appealing goods.
You would expect Kaye to come up with a bunch of full-on rockers, instead, except
for the wired-up title track and Solstice, he chooses mellow Americana romanticism,
and his warm voice fits the sweet-toned mood like a glove. Touchy-feely musings and dreamy ballads sign for a tenderhearted record.
Get in your laid-back rockin’ chair and let
yourself be entertained by Goin’ Local.
Press info: At its core, the album taps into a powerful,
universal tension: the race against time.
Vocalist Julie Hough has battled insomnia for many years and is diagnosed with ADHD, which continues to inform HAVVK’s work, with this new album delving deeper into themes of restlessness, vulnerability, and the fragile line between exhaustion and clarity.
It captures the restless feeling that life is moving faster than we can keep up, where unfinished to-do lists, lost passions, and the urge to make a real impact all collide.
Set against a backdrop of global and national unrest, the album confronts the guilt
and conflict of pursuing personal meaning while the world feels like it’s unravelling.
The album frames meaningful relationships as both a lifeline and a quiet act
of resistance, highlighting the human drive to stay present in an unstable world.
TUTV: HAVVK alternate punked-up belters with flaming torch songs. Julie Hough‘s
gutsy vocals infuse all tracks, speedy or slow, heavy or quieter, with tenacious panache. She ventilates and challenges her mental health problems with all the force she has in
her heart and soul. It makes Time Will Kill a vociferous and intense roller coaster album.
Track: PARADISE
New single from his 3rd solo album,
named Thrasher, out on August 21st.
The LP is recorded in Nashville, the mecca of country music, with some renowned
country musicians. Rooted in his formative childhood years in the small town of Nephi, Utah, the timeless sonic approach proves to be the ideal home for Flowers’ most personal and vulnerable songwriting yet.
TUTV: Flowers loves country, sings country, plays country.
Band: DRY CLEANING Who: Much-lauded indie outfit from London, fronted by
spoken-word frontwoman Florence Shaw, who made their
breakthrough with their 2nd LP Stumpwork from 2022.
Track: I HAVE THE KEY
One of the 2 bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of their 3rd LP Secret Love that came out in January.
Tired of his limited role with Massive Attack, trip-hop bigwig TRICKY (born Adrian
Nicholas Matthews Thaws in Bristol, UK, 58 years ago) wanted to do his own thing.
So, 31 years ago (I know, sounds like ages), he
left MA and started his significant solo career.
Press info: “‘Different When It’s Silent‘ follows a prolific period of activity. Since 2020’s ‘Fall to Pieces’ LP, Tricky has released music under several different guises, all via his own label, ‘False Idols‘. Yet returning to an album under his own name took on a different shape. For Tricky it was another side project, until his manager Alan McGee felt the songs clearly belonged to a Tricky record.’
TUTV: The longtime trip-hop master didn’t/doesn’t change his sonic palette for the past
few years/albums. Not necessary whatsoever to my satisfied ears. His tense and tenebrific trademark synth-grooves, mostly mid-tempo, still have a transfixing and chilling effect.
This time it’s young, riveting Bristol voice Mitch Sanders who co-stars for the greater
part with Tricky‘s whispering vocals in the back, engendering the familiar, spookish twilight atmosphere. Again Tricky makes you feel comfortable in his cliffhanging cosmic space.
Standout Tracks: Singles Because I Don’t Know and I’m Yours / Paris Maybe / So Cold / Piano / Frontier Town and Out Of Place.
Californian experimental duo XIU XIU deliver their second LP honoring the iconic filmmaker David Lynch (1946-2025), with their musical vision of his first pitch-black, surreal fantasy movie Eraserhead from 1977. It tells the story of a bizarre man who
tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newborn mutant child.
Press info: “In 2016, with the blessing of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, Xiu Xiu released and toured the surprisingly successful album Plays The Music Of Twin Weaks.
Now they return with Eraserhead Xiu Xiu. A new live concert with accompanying film
and full-length album that uses field recordings, concert specific homemade instruments, organ, modular synths, vocals, flashlights, electrical interference, and elements of musique concrete to express the bizarre emotionality, conflicted sexuality, relentless darkness, and singularly unsettled moonscape of this most incredible of midnight masterpieces.
The album itself is a masterpiece in sound collage and experimentation, shifting
from minimal auditory sensations to a clobbering, grotesque cacophony.”
TUTV: XX’s hallucinatory sonic odyssey is as outlandish, Kafkaesque, and
phantasmagorical as the movie. You need to take time, separate yourself from
your surroundings, dim the light, and sit down to immerse yourself, with your
earphones on, in the petrifying, distorted sound disturbance spread across
7 trance-like (long and short) tracks.
