Kings favorite Color Palette releases the uptempo atmospheric track Sunburn. The band tells Kings, “The blueprint of ‘Sunburn’ was written in about 15 minutes; it was written while I was at the beach with my friends, after a day of getting completely sunburned. I was thinking about a love interest at the time, picked up a guitar, and the line in the chorus – ‘stick to me like sunburn’ – came to mind; I ended up building the entire song around that line.” The DC-based indie-rock outfit has captured praise from the likes of NME Magazine, USA Today, and NPR while sharing the stage with Charli XCX, The Naked and Famous, and Spirit Animal. The band has been gigging and releasing records for a few years and I think the latest track will take them to the next level.

Brighton UK 4 piece Drip Gloss dropped their debut track Fame and a video. Drawing influences from Mavi Phoenix, MØ/Diplo, and Blood Orange, the latest track delves into the topic of self absorption. Born Music notes, “some of the electronics sound like they could have been pulled directly from an old-school Nintendo game”. The track was helmed by Dave McCracken who is known for his work with Depeche Mode and East-London based Dreamtrak. Having gigged alongside Bad Sounds and Boy Pablo, the band will perform tonight with The Magic Gang at a sold out gig at Concorde 2. Give it a stream!

New Yorkers Friends At The Falls dropped a new track Graffiti. The band makes a distinction between indie and alternative, and they consider themselves alternative. Musically, they want to capture the essence of pioneers like The Killers, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, and U2. You can hear this in their music and production. Especially in the latest track which is free from loops and over-use of samples that’s been overly exploited. With a stripped down production means a band has to rely on the overall strength of its players. The band will get to reveal their live chops at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on 10/13.

Madonna: The Rolling Stone Interview
“Feeling regret is really destructive. I’ve learned a lot from my marriage – mostly about myself.”

Here we learned everything about Madonna in the 1989 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. We learned about her marriage, regrets, sleeping habits and run-ins with the police. It was transparent, at least we believe it was honest. It was a good read though, especially for fans of Madonna. Moreover, the biggest female celebrity in the world had a chance to show her human side talking about insecurities and fears.

Today, artists control the narrative. In many cases, the biggest artists won’t even engage in tell-all interviews. Taylor Swift won’t. Drake dropped out from giving any substantial interviews. Here is the difference. In 1989, celebrity journalism made a significant impact in the lives of artists. Consequently, social media replaced it. Artists are in 100% control of the narrative. Instead of talking with their audience in an interview setting, they “talk-at” their audience by means of scheduled social media posts. Which means? The death of celebrity press. CONTINUE READING

Leader, a 5 piece alternative act from Oxfordshire & Buckingham drops the alternative rock track Open Skies. The band which is known for its live show has shared the stage with Wheatus, Razorlight, and Lonely The Brave. Furthermore, they sold out a headline show at Oxford’s O2 Academy. That’s pretty decent considering it’s a 1,000+ capacity-person room. Moreover, the band released the track Golden earlier in the year (which is good as well), that received support from BBC. Give it a listen.