 |
| Photo - No Aesthetic Stills |
Minnesota-based group Maygen & The Birdwatcher are releasing “Hat Man Blues,” the final pre-release single from their upcoming LP The Americana Dream, out October 10 via Yellow House Music Collective / Missing Piece Records. The upbeat track captures the feeling of emotional limbo – sometimes feeling great but other times feeling low – and addresses the inevitably of that if you want to forge connection in your life.
On the new track, the band shares: “This song takes a look at how sometimes the things you love the most can become your burdens. Some days they make you want to dance and other days they give you those blues. It speaks to the complexity of feelings that arise when you're tethered to something that's both beautiful and destructive. There’s a restless tension in the way the days shift — from sunlight to sorrow, from triumph to defeat — revealing the inner conflict of someone who’s trying to move forward, but inevitably has bad days along the way. It’s a portrait of someone stuck in the middle — searching, unraveling, and somehow still standing in the fire.”
The new LP reimagines the traditional definition of the American Dream by shifting away from the aspirational nature of the concept itself and moving towards a full embrace of the literal definition of Americana – the vast geographical, historical and cultural expanse that reflects Maygen & The Birdwatcher’s roots as well as this country as a whole.
============================================================================
Lera Lynn's Comic Book Cowboy (album released yesterday) feels like an anthem for anyone wrestling with their own mythology, striving for authenticity in a world of expectations. It plays with contrasts—gritty realism vs. idealized heroism, and the absurdity of living up to “the dream” that inundates us all. It’s self-aware and a little tongue-in-cheek, making it a standout choice for an album full of layered, introspective themes. With lush production and deeply introspective lyrics, Comic Book Cowboy marks a bold evolution in Lynn's musical journey. Here, on Lynn's 9th and most exposing studio album, her dedication to song craft and album production is on full display. “I finally quit caring about the outcome and perception and freely poured all of my hidden feelings into a record,” says Lera.
Lera Lynn is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and producer known for her haunting vocals and cinematic soundscapes that blend Americana, indie rock, folk noir, and art pop. She gained widespread recognition for her music featured on HBO’s True Detective (Season 2), where her atmospheric songs and on-screen performance left an indelible mark on viewers. Earlier this year, she released True Sessions, an EP of songs from True Detective newly recorded, live in the studio.
A fiercely independent artist, Lynn has built a career on thoughtful songwriting, poetic lyricism, and meticulous production, all while nurturing a direct relationship with her fans through her own independent label, Ruby Range Records. Beyond her own albums, she has composed and produced music for video games, podcast theme songs, and films, collaborated with a vast array of artists, and produced records for others. Her music has been placed in numerous films and television series, further cementing her ability to create evocative, cinematic soundscapes. She has completed multiple world tours, as far east as Asia, to the west coast of the US and many places between.
============================================================================
 |
| Photo - Paige Jamie Bedard |
This week, weird art lifer Greg Jamie shares "Beautiful Place," the second single from his forthcoming full-length, Across a Violet Pasture. The song features the illustrious Josephine Foster on vocals. Maine is a beautiful place with an enviably thriving underground art and music scene, gorgeous, occasionally unforgiving coastlines, and ghosts in spades. In my mind, Greg Jamie occupies a central role in all of this, having been, seemingly for forever, a significant figure in that underground arts scene and an insignificant human form against that forbidding landscape, wandering among the ghosts. Jamie's second full-length solo record, Across a Violet Pasture goes a long way to support this impression.
 |
| Photo - Mark Borthwick |
It’s no surprise that the latest from the Maine-based musician and visual artist aims to haunt, but this experimental folk pop does it in a way that’s more playful than funereal. It lays a shimmering floor over the abyss.
Across a Violet Pasture evokes, on different tracks — a sea shanty, a cowboy song, and lounge music for a David Lynch film. A beaten-up vintage drum machine provides the pulse for one song, while another conjures the cavernous panic of Suicide. But the album doesn’t adhere too strictly to any gesture or influence. This is Jamie’s unique blend.
============================================================================
Sheffield dance-punk quintet Life Aquatic Band return with Stuck in the Mud, a four-track EP produced by three-time Mercury-nominated Shuta Shinoda (Hot Chip, Ghostpoet, Spiritualized), out February 20th, 2026.
Known for their high-energy, genre-hopping live shows, LAB have honed their sound into something tighter, darker and more dancefloor-focused, drawing on the energy of acts like DEVO, The B-52’s, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and Fat Dog. “We were really chasing the early 2000s electro clash movement with this, with also a lot of the New York No Wave movement of the 1970s,” the band explain. “For the first time we decided not to use any guitars - or at least not in a traditional sense. The only guitar is on ‘Buggin Out’ and it was resampled a million times until it became noise rather than guitar.”
The EP’s title reflects its central themes: “It’s about feeling stuck and frustrated, but also discovering relief in unexpected ways, probably inspired by learning different types of therapy. We’ve always wanted to make positive music that helps people find happiness, and this time we explored a darker palette while making sure there’s still plenty of light and release running through it.”
Lead single ‘Summer Rain’ was first written by synth-player and vocalist Jazmine Kelly in Japan during monsoon season, its shimmering synths and pulsing beats capturing both the exhilaration and unease of cycling through torrential rain. Initially demoed on basic home recording gear, the track later took on new life in the studio under Shinoda’s direction.
============================================================================
 |
| Photo - Phiilp Svensson |
On “Facing Atlas”, Swedish Musician and composer Anna von Hausswolff’s breaks open the gates into a warm sound world. Her ethereal vocals meld with echoing drums, a murmuring church organ alongside reverberating guitars and a swirling saxophone as she herself becomes one figure in this fluttering aural space. “‘Facing Atlas’ is about the risks of commitment; to be bound to something until you no longer feel control over yourself and your direction in life. A destiny can feel like a prison if it's not chosen by heart's desire,” von Hausswolff reveals.
It’s the latest single from her forthcoming album Iconoclasts due October 31 via YEAR0001, her first with the label. Throughout the years von Hausswolff’s releases cemented her as an artist of unpredictable and vast creativity – always moving forward, always fusing tradition with experimentation in unimaginable ways. On Iconoclasts, her sound evolves again, bringing a poppier and more vibrant element to her moving songs.
Produced by von Hausswolff and longtime collaborator Filip Leyman, it is an opus of stirring movement, anthemic ritualism, and maximalist composition, marking a new chapter in von Hausswolff's music and featuring appearances from Ethel Cain, Abul Mogard, Iggy Pop and Maria von Hausswolff.
============================================================================
