Indie: Last News

Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino has penned an op-ed in The Independent calling on the Biden Administration to legalise the use of cannabis.Cosentino’s article draws on her experience as a white woman using cannabis and publicly discussing it without consequences.

the death of its beloved doorman ‘Big John Frazer’ last weekend.Tributes to Frazer, who died “peacefully in his sleep,” were shared by the likes of Franz Ferdinand‘s Alex Kapranos, Arab Strap‘s Aidan Moffat and The Twilight Sad across social media on Monday (February 1).A JustGiving page has now been set up as “people have been getting in touch wanting to contribute” to Frazer’s funeral expenses.“So we thought this would be a nice way to show support to his family with the costs involved, especially when there are limits on how many can pay their respects at a service,” a description reads.Posting a link to the page on their Twitter account, The Twilight Sad wrote: “After speaking with John’s family, Nice N’ Sleazy have arranged this

Rostam has shared his latest single ‘These Kids We Knew’, a track inspired by younger generations’ fight against climate change.You can watch a video for the single below, which was written while the former Vampire Weekend musician was recovering from Covid-19 last March.“I was thinking of three generations while I was writing this song,” Rostam said. “There’s a generation of adults who don’t see global warming as their problem because they think they won’t be impacted by it.“Then there’s a generation younger than mine, who will certainly have to deal with what is happening.

Goat Girl have argued for cultural protections for independent venues in an effort to stave off intensifying threats of closure.Speaking to NME, the band’s bassist Holly ‘Hole’ Mullineaux said: “It would be good if there was some sort of cultural protection, like how a building is grade-listed.

The Flaming Lips have announced details of more ‘space bubble’ gigs.The band held their first COVID-safe concert of the kind in Oklahoma City last month (January 22) with the concept for the show taking inspiration from frontman Wayne Coyne’s own giant bubble, which he usually gets in to roll over the audience during the band’s gigs.The Flaming Lips have now announced two more gigs next month at the same venue in the band’s hometown.They’ll play the Criterion venue in Oklahoma City on March 12 and 13, with a press release saying that “local health and safety standards will be strictly observed for this full-production live Lips event”.A post shared by Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne5)Wayne Coyne spoke about the bubble shows last year, saying they

Du Blonde has announced a new single with Ezra Furman, which drops this Wednesday (February 3).‘I’m Glad That We Broke Up’ is “our take on a 60s girl group/glam rock explosion”, Du Blonde wrote in a post on Instagram. The artist, whose real name is Beth Jeans Houghton, added that the song is “about breaking up, regretting it and getting back together”.“Ok we can’t keep it in anymore.

Arlo Parks has announced three more UK gigs for later this year, including her biggest headline show to date.The south London artist released her debut album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ last week, and had already plotted out a UK and European tour for the spring in support of the record.Parks has this morning (February 1) announced three more gigs for November.

Smith & Burrows, the duo comprising Editors frontman Tom Smith and former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows, have dropped their new song, ‘I Want You Back In My Life’.‘I Want You Back In My Life’ comes a few weeks ahead of the band’s forthcoming second collaborative album, ‘Only Smith And Burrows Is Good Enough’, set for release on February 19 via PIAS.The song also marks the fourth cut we’ve heard from the album so far, following ‘Parliament Hill‘, ‘Old TV Shows’ and ‘All The Best Moves’.Listen to ‘I Want You Back In My Life’ below:Speaking of the song in a press statement, Smith said he received it from Burrows while on tour with Editors.“With this tune the heavy lifting was done by Andy, it was his pretty complete song I added some

IDLES’ ‘Ultra Mono’ has been named as the best-selling album in the UK’s independent record shops in 2020.The Bristol band’s third studio album, which arrived back in September, tops a new chart published by the Official Charts Company this week after the record previously became the fastest-selling vinyl release of last year.‘Ultra Mono’ fended off competition from Yungblud‘s ‘Weird!’ and Fontaines D.C.‘s ‘A Hero’s Death’, which respectively rounded off the top three best-selling albums in the UK’s independent record stores in 2020, to claim the top spot.The likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Blossoms and the late David Bowie also feature in the top 10 – you can see the full Official Record Store Chart 2020 here.“We’re Number 1 on the Official

The Killers have shared unreleased track ‘C’est La Vie’ from the new deluxe edition of their acclaimed 2020 album ‘Imploding The Mirage‘.

Death Cab For Cutie have delivered their own ambitious take on TLC‘s ‘Waterfalls’ – check it out in full below.The latest offering is one of five covers recorded by the band for their ‘Georgia EP’, a digital collection which arrived to support Stacey Abrams’ voting organisation Fair Fight Action ahead of the Georgia senate runoff election earlier this month.The new EP also sees the Ben Gibbard-fronted band putting their own spin on other tracks by artists who forged their carer in Georgia, including Cat Power‘s ‘Metal Heart’, R.E.M.‘s ‘Fall On Me’, Neutral Milk Hotel‘s ‘The King Of Carrot Flowers Pt 1’, and ‘Flirted with You All My Life’ by the late Vic Chesnutt.The performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live saw Death Cab perform remotely, with each

Bono to ask him to guest on Haim‘s 2019 single ‘Summer Girl’.The song – which later featured as a bonus track on the trio’s 2020 album ‘Women in Music Pt.

Arcade Fire‘s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne performed the band’s track ‘Afterlife’ on a special live-stream tonight (January 27).The husband and wife duo offered up a karaoke-style take on the ‘Reflektor’ single during the climate change event Make Earth Cool Again, which is also set to include an appearance from Billie Eilish and her brother/collaborator Finneas.“We’re a Canadian band and our next door neighbour is not just the United States, it’s also the Arctic,” Butler said to introduce the track (via Stereogum).

Arlo Parks has shared a new track called ‘Hope’ – you can listen to it belowPremiering on BBC Radio 1 tonight (January 27) as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record In The World, the song follows on from ‘Caroline’, ‘Hurt’, ‘Green Eyes’ and ‘Black Dog’ in previewing the London singer-songwriter’s debut album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’, which arrives on Friday (January 29).“The song surrounds isolation, being present in your pain and knowing that you’re not the only one on the planet feeling low,” Parks explained.

Jensen McRae has shared the full version of her viral ‘cover’ of what she imagines the opener of Phoebe Bridgers‘ next album will sound like.McRae shared the affectionate parody of Bridgers’ style on Twitter last week, joking that “in 2023 Phoebe Bridgers is gonna drop her third album & the opening track will be about hooking up in the car while waiting in line to get vaccinated at dodger stadium and it’s gonna make me cry.”The song opens with the lines: “Traffic from the East Side’s got me aggravated / Hotter than the day my brother graduated / Wait four hours in the sun / In line at Dodger Stadium / I’m not scared of dogs or getting vaccinated”.

Yonaka have returned to action by releasing their new single ‘Seize The Power’ – you can hear the track below.The song is the Brighton-based band’s first piece of new material since the release of their debut album ‘Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow’ in May 2019.Yonaka have released ‘Seize The Power’, which was self-produced by the four-piece and features spoken-word vocals from lead singer Theresa Jarvis, today (January 27).“It’s been so long since we released new music and the time has finally come; this is a new chapter for us,” the band said about ‘Seize The Power’.

Girl In Red has promised that her “very ambitious” forthcoming debut album will contain “some crazy shit”.Last August, the Norwegian singer-songwriter shared new track ‘Rue’, the first preview of the full-length record.In a new interview with DIY, Marie Ulven has shed some more light on what to expect from the record. “There’s some crazy shit going down on this album,” she said.

Drive Like I Do, the side-project of The 1975, have shared what appears to be a snippet of new material – check out the post below.It comes after Matty Healy suggested in December that a full album from the group could be arriving next month, which would follow on from the ‘Scary Monsters’ EP (released last October).Taking to Instagram this week, Drive Like I Do – who are described as a “separate entity” to The 1975 – shared an image of a country field accompanied by a clip of lo-fi acoustic music.Fans are currently unsure as to what the post could mean, with the band providing no further information or a caption.A post shared by @drivelikeidoHealy appeared to confirm a full Drive Like I Do album was on the horizon after he shared a photo

New Radicals reunited for the first time in 22 years during a virtual event celebrating president Joe Biden’s inauguration today (January 20).The Los Angeles band are best known for their 1998 hit single ‘You Get What You Give’, but famously separated just months after its release.Appearing on stage together for the first time in over two decades, New Radicals took part in the Parade Across America broadcast which was streamed shortly after president Biden was sworn in at the US Capitol.“When we heard ‘You Get What You Give’ was a Biden family anthem, we pledged if Joe won we’d get together and play our little song – both in memory and in honour of our new president’s patriot son Beau,” frontman Gregg Alexander said to introduce the

Deb Never has shared a new song called ‘Someone Else’ – check out its official video below.The Seattle artist released ‘Intermission’ – a collection of songs written and recorded in quarantine – in May 2020, following up on her debut EP ‘House On Wheels’ (2019).Having spent months in coronavirus-enforced isolation in LA last year, Deb Never relocated to London to move in with her longtime collaborator Michael Percy.‘Someone Else’, produced by Jam City and Percy, serves as the first material from Deb since she moved to England.“The sparkle in your eyes/ Look like all the stars/ Do we see the same moon when you look up?/ I can rob you of your time/ But still can’t break in your complicated mind/ Oh my, oh my“, Deb Never sings over a lo-fi

Fleet Foxes have released their first music video of the year, dropping a live clip for their 2020 track, ‘I’m Not My Season’.‘I’m Not My Season’ appeared on Fleet Foxes’ most recent album, ‘Shore’, which the group surprise-released in September.The song’s music video was filmed at Brooklyn’s St.