Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Drones, the seventh studio album from Muse came out this week. Said the band’s Matt Bellamy explaining the concept for the album: “The world is run by Drones utilizing Drones to turn us all into Drones. Drones explores the journey of a human, from their abandonment and loss of hope, to their indoctrination by the system to be a human drone, to their eventual defection from their oppressors.” Here’s the video for “Mercy.”
Two songwriters best known for their work with The Eagles just released new recordings of their own. JD Souther, a singer and actor as well as a recent inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, co-wrote Eagles hits including “Heartache Tonight,” “Best of My Love,” and “New Kid in Town,” and songs for Linda Ronstadt, Brooks and Dunn, George Strait and many more. Souther just released a new full-length album, Tenderness, on Sony Music Masterworks. And Jack Tempchin, writer of “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Already Gone” as well as songs for George Jones, Glen Campbell, Emmylou Harris, Trisha Yearwood and many more, released a four-song EP called Room to Run on Blue Élan Records.
Disclosure will headline shows at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and Madison Square Garden upon the upcoming release in September of its new album Caracal.
Just out too is a new CD from The Cure’s keyboard player Roger O’Donnell with cellist Julia Kent. Scored for piano and two to four cello parts, the pieces on Love and Other Tragedies retell three famous stories: Scheherazade, Tristan and Isolde, and Orpheus and Eurydice.
Miley Cyrus recently debuted the first in a series of collaborative videos, shown first on Facebook, to benefit her new Happy Hippie Foundation, a nonprofit “dedicated to rallying young people to fight the injustices faced by homeless youth, LGBT youth, and other vulnerable populations.”
Motörhead will release its 22nd studio album, Bad Magic, this summer and embark on a 40th anniversary European tour. The 13 songs on the disc include a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” A healthier-living Motörhead? According to the press release, “Lemmy also finally decided to face the fact he is flesh, blood and mortal like all of us, adjusting his lifestyle to kick the ass of health-issues and re-emerging stronger, leaner and meaner than ever.”
Next week Third Eye Blind releases its new album, Dopamine. The band is on tour now with Dashboard Confessional. Here’s “Everything is Easy” from the album:
The Clash’s Mick Jones is releasing a new six-track album on vinyl to accompany the opening of his pop culture archive The Rock And Roll Public Library at Venice Bienniale 2015. Ex Libris is now streaming in full:
Ben Folds will release So There in September, a new direction for the artist. The album, a collaboration with yMusic, includes eight chamber rock songs plus Folds’ “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” with the Nashville Symphony. The first song, “Capable of Anything,” has just premiered at NPR.
A new live album and DVD from Gregg Allman is set for an August 7 release. Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA on Rounder Records was recorded in the town where the Allman Brothers got their start more than 40 years ago. Rolling Stone premiered a video from the DVD, the first ever released by Allman as a solo artist.
Indigo Girls just released their new album One Lost Day. It’s streaming at Garden & Gun.
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