Jesse Jo Stark seems to tap into the infinite mythology of the West Coast.
Of course, it helps that she's got the lineage – Cher's god-daughter, Jesse has the voices of the counter culture running through her veins.
It's something that comes to the fore with gorgeous new single 'Die Young', underpinned by those celestial acoustic guitar chords and powered by an emphatic vocal.
The arrangement is suggestive and opaque – think Lana at her most fated – while also nodding to her forebears, with those liquid country guitar lines and the 'Wichita Lineman' style string parts.
A single to truly immerse yourself in, we're able to share 'Die Young' alongside some behind the scenes polaroids shot by Yungblud.
It gets intimate…
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Frank Ocean has launched a voter registration drive through his blonded.co website.
The American artist added a message to his Instagram stories just as the first Presidential debate drew to a halt, warning fans that Donald Trump "might not leave the White House even if he loses the race".
Pointing unregistered citizens towards his blonded.co site, Frank Ocean revealed a link that allows fans to register to vote.
He writes:
Debates are on. It all feels fake. The problem’s that it’s not. Donald is president and might not leave the White House even if he loses the race so some say. Pls vote. Watching him dragged out will be way more entertaining than these debates. If you’re not registered swipe up to blonded.co the form just takes 2 minutes to fill out. Goodnight.
It's not the first time Frank Ocean has been vocal politically – he shared a series of radio shows during the 2018 Mid Term elections.
Register to vote HERE.
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
It was a curious instalment of the Hyundai Mercury Prize, for sure.
Clash has become accustomed to trotting down the red carpet, chatting to some of our favourite musicians outside of a glitzy ceremony.
This time round, COVID meant that the full event couldn't take place, prompting the team to unveil a fluid solution to a global problem.
With coverage split between BBC One, BBC Four, and 6Music, this year's Hyudai Mercury Prize was arguably the most comprehensive in its existence, offering live performances, insightful interviews, and more.
In the end, the winner was one of British music's warmest figures, with Michael Kiwanuka's wonderful 'KIWANUKA' winning the prize.
Here's the moment Annie Mac revealed the winner…
The moment @michaelkiwanuka got the news he is the 2020 @mercuryprize WINNER!! @anniemac | #TheOneShow | #MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/14ar8iQsim
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) September 24, 2020
The letter was opened live on the One Show, BBC One's flagship evening programme, one that garners a bigger audience share than just about anything else on British television.
It wasn't the normal set up, for sure, but then this is the New Normal after all. Equally, it seems to have had an astonishing breakthrough, sending 'KIWANUKA' racing back up the charts.
The other shortlisted albums were also given the heft of exposure, with everyone from Kano to Anna Meredith to Lanterns On The Lake revelling in the spotlight.
In the end, though, there could only be one winner, and Michael Kiwanuka was as genial and humble during the announce as at any point during his decade-long career.
Congratulations to @michaelkiwanuka, the official winner of the 2020 @mercuryprize! #TheOneShow pic.twitter.com/vSQb34H0JJ
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) September 24, 2020
Photo Credit: Jeff Spicer
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Japanese Breakfast has shared details of her new book Crying In H Mart.
The songwriter – real name Michelle Zauner – confirmed plans for the book last year, and has been working steadily with publishers Knopf ever since.
Out in April, Crying In H Mart picks up from the themes prevalent in her 2018 essay for the New Yorker, a beautiful piece of writing that went viral.
In a statement, she says:
My mother passed away almost six years ago and ever since, my life has felt folded in half, divided into a before and after her death, my identity and my family having been fractured in the wake of her loss.
I’ve spent the past six years processing grief in the best way I knew how-through creative work. I wrote two albums worth of material in an attempt to encapsulate all of that heavy darkness, confusion and loneliness, and then I spent another three years writing pages and pages to try and capture my mother’s brilliant character and spirit, what it was like to be raised by a Korean immigrant in a small west coast town with very little diversity, the intense shame I felt towards my mixed race identity and how my embrace of Korean food and culture helped me come to terms with that upbringing, allowed me to reconnect with her memory.
As an artist, Japanese Breakfast is known for her frank honest, and the way her emotional intent intertwines with inventive word play – we're excited to see how this one ends up.
Here's the confirmation.
My first book Crying in H Mart will be released April 20th 2021 and is now available for pre order : https://t.co/OBLQXbaHS7 pic.twitter.com/vjHLGkWRZD
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) September 30, 2020
Japanese Breakfast's most recent album 'Soft Sounds From Another Planet' was released in 2017.
Shawn Mendes seems to be teasing something new.
The pop icon just sent the internet into meltdown, tweeting three simple words and then hitting 'send'.
Here's the tweet:
WHAT IS #WONDER
— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) September 30, 2020
/blockquote>Could it be the start of something new? It certainly reads like it, while it's been a long time since his self-titled third album dropped back in 2018.
Indeed, Clash spoke to Shawn at the beginning of that era – re-visit our cover interview HERE.
As Seventeen point out – 'Wonder' could well be his new album, with further details rumoured to have leaked online.
Photo Credit: Paul Phung
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Jimmy Edgar has shared two new singles, featuring SOPHIE and Danny Brown.
The producer is back, demonstrating his versatility on a hyper-creative double A-side release, featuring two iconoclastic talents.
New track 'METAL' finds Edgar duelling with SOPHIE, and it's an extension of a friendship that goes back almost a decade.
Jimmy Edgar reflects: "SOPHIE and I met at Fabric in London in the 2010s and since then we have performed live together as well as worked together with artists such as Charli XCX and Vince Staples, ‘METAL’ is reflective of our love for designer sounds finely sculpted on boutique computer equipment."
On the flip, you can find the motivational urge 'GET UP' which pairs the producer's blistering digital mayhem with Danny Brown's unhinged bars.
Tune in below.
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
A huge new box set dedicated to the life and work of Aretha Franklin has been announced.
The new box set is titled simply 'Aretha', and spans 60 years of exceptional work from the Queen Of Soul.
Tracing her roots through to her breakthrough, it moves through the various chapters of the soul icon's work.
The 4-CD and digital collection features 81 tracks, which makes room for 19 previously unreleased recordings, including demos, rarities, and live performances.
Alongside this, a 2-LP and single CD version will be available, released through Rhino on November 20th.
The box set is led by a previously unheard 1966 home demo, featuring Aretha powering her way through 'My Kind Of Town (Detroit Is)'.
Tune in now.
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
No matter how high you set the bar for Sean Anderson, he always manages to reach it. When the artist, better known as Big Sean, rapped his first rhymes to his mother over 20 years ago, few would have predicted that he would become a platinum selling artist, work with icons and legends and have a day named after him in his hometown city of Detroit. Few except Sean himself, who manifested his vision when he rapped for his favourite artist Kanye West and subsequently signed a deal with G.O.O.D Music, with which this album will be his last. At least contractually.
When he first released ‘Detroit’ as a mixtape in 2012, it was downloaded nearly a million times on the day of release and caused the DatPiff website to crash. The project has since become a fan-favourite due to both its quality and impact on Sean Don’s career, so it was only right that the Michigan rapper made a sequel in the form of his fifth studio album, releasing almost eight years ago to the day of the original. The last few years have not been kind to him, at least personally – a subject on which we speak about in this interview – but having put in work inwardly, this album sees him tap into his higher self to execute arguably his best work yet.
‘Detroit 2’ became his third solo effort in a row to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and saw him return with a renewed energy and sense of purpose. Big Sean has already achieved a lot in his career thus far, with this album signalling the start of a new chapter, but one thing will surely remain the same. No matter how high you set the bar, he will continue to keep reaching it.
As the COVID pandemic continues to affect the world, he (virtually) sat down with Clash Magazine to discuss the new album, battling depression, BLM, Twenty88 and more.
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First and foremost, congratulations on ‘Detroit 2’, the number one album in America…
Big Sean: Thank you so much. You know, the fact that it did go number one was amazing but to me it was number one the second I released it for me because, I was happy that I got to be honest and be myself and to return back to the music as an upgraded, motivated version of myself. It was a long journey to get there so as soon as I saw that it impacted people and that people were relating to it, it was already number one for me off top. That was just a cherry on top for it to go number one.
It’s funny you say that because when you released the album you obviously had your own idea of what you wanted the it to achieve, but now it's been out for a few weeks and people have had time to digest it and take it in, you’re able to see what the feeling is away from the hype and the buzz of it being a brand new release.
Yeah but it’s great though. You know, there’s so much music in the world as well that you just have to be thankful that you’re one of the few people that get to do such a beautiful job like make music for a living.
I feel like my real purpose is to inspire; that’s why I’m here on this earth, so the best way is through the music. I’ve sacrificed a lot of my privacy, a lot of things that I’ve never talked about, things that I may have been embarrassed or ashamed to talk about [and put it in the music] in efforts to hopefully relate to some people and give them something to feel good about and something to relate to.
‘Detroit 2’ feels very celebratory but on your path to that positivity you’ve had to go through a lot of dark times to come out the other side. What was that journey like for you?
I’m still on that journey. I feel like we’re on that journey until we’re done with life, you know what I mean? It’s like ups and downs and left and right turns all over the place but, it had come to a height for me of being hard for me to get through the day. I felt broken on the inside. I had tons of anxiety and depression and I just felt very stuck creatively and everything wasn’t going right for me on the inside. I just had to figure out what I was going through, I had to grow, I had to expand myself.
I stopped everything I was doing and for the first time in my life I had to put myself as the priority. I was kind of always doing it for everyone else, for my friends, for my family, putting people on, giving people jobs and all this stuff, but I had to concentrate on myself. It was an experience and definitely a lot of therapy, a lot of spiritual work, a lot of journaling, a lot of meditation to intentions and goals.
What that process did was brought me back to some of the most pivotal moments in my life when I was 16 years-old and 21 years-old and it reignited that passion that I had, that flame, being a spire that I was searching for.
That’s why I called my album ‘Detroit 2’ because I felt like I was returning to those roots and that essence but as an improved version of myself. It was quite a journey to get to the album and to finish the album but I’m glad that it happened.
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On the original ‘Detroit’ you had stories from hip-hop legends like Snoop Dogg, Common and Jeezy and I know for the sequel you had a list of who you wanted stories from. So how did it feel to organically get icons such as Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu and Stevie Wonder on the album talking about the city you love?
Man, I meditated on it and was praying, and I had my mind set on these three people at the end. They didn’t come until the last minute by the way either. I was praying and meditating on it hard like “please”! Because I didn’t even want to put the album out without the skits.
The last skit was either Stevie Wonder or Erykah Badu, they both kind of came in around the same time. And I remember when I finished all three of them I was like “damn this is crazy”, and I put the piano behind it which is the music from 'Still I Rise' but the piano version. It was such a happy moment for me man because I feel like those skits capture the essence of the first ‘Detroit’ and really just continue that storyline and I felt this was an upgraded version.
But I also didn’t want to just do it for that. I wanted there to be messages in the skits. I wanted people to have a takeaway from it, like every single song. That was like one of my motivations, like I got to spit at least one bar that somebody is going to want to tattoo or tweet or write down.Tattoo bars was my mentality. Let me make sure I say things that really stick and mean something.
Those skits really capture that. All of them said such important, captivating, beautiful things. It was important for me to bring people not from Detroit, to Detroit, to honour Detroit because I think that’s what makes it worldwide.
And they’re the kind of people that when they speak, you listen and take it in. No matter your feelings on Detroit, when Stevie Wonder is saying what he says about it, you’re going to listen…
[Laughs] Yeah, and Stevie’s from Detroit. To me he’s the greatest singer-songwriter of all time so it was a blessing just to be in the same room as him.
You said in a freestyle that your grandmother was one of the first female police officers in Detroit and that she would’ve quit her job to protest with you. Throughout the pandemic we’ve seen the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (to name a few) as well as worldwide protests. What are your thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement?
Yeah I said that in a freestyle I did on Instagram. That’s very true though. I think the movement is very necessary. I feel like the country, America, has been a very unfair place and is built on an unfair foundation and a racist foundation. They act like we’re not real people sometimes. Like we’re three fifths of a person, a man or a woman.
For somebody to get murdered in their own home or on camera and all these things and for people to just get dismissed from their job…that’s like the type of shit you get for falling asleep on the job or something like that – you get laid off or fired. These people deserve to be behind bars, and they deserve the maximum punishment because this has been going on since slave times and before that – where the police think it’s okay to count us out as not even real people and execute us.
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I can’t interview you and not ask you about Kanye. I won’t go into his recent tweets but how is your relationship with him at this point and what were his thoughts of the album when he heard it?
He definitely gave me a lot of great advice on the album maybe like midway through, and he was super excited so that had me pumped up. He’s very locked in. I haven’t been as close with him as I am sometimes. He’s been very locked in and especially with this COVID thing, I just haven’t really linked with him too many times. But it’s always all love and he’s one of the executive producers on the album obviously.
This technically was my last album on G.O.O.D Music. Obviously I think G.O.O.D. Music is more than like a contractual thing, it’s like a brotherhood; he gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. But this was actually my last obligation for G.O.O.D.
So is it going to be an affiliation from now on? I heard you’re starting your own label so will you be releasing on that?
Yeah I’m starting my own label. That’s like a whole journey right there. I got to figure out what artists I can really put on, or help out, or give an opportunity to and just have some fun.
I hope my future music can be on my own label as well but like I said, I feel like that G.O.O.D Music relationship is a lifelong thing, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
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This year we’ve seen the loss of a lot of legendary figures in Black culture and everyone knows about how close you were to Nipsey Hussle. How special and important was it for you to have one of his last verses on your album and lead single ‘Deep Reverence’?
I think that was the last verse he recorded before he died. It’s the most special thing. Probably the most special thing that I’ve ever done.
It’s really depressing to think about, him not being here, but it was definitely an honour to share that song. And at the end he was talking like “I’m gonna tap in with all of Detroit” from an interview that he did, so it was cool to just fulfil that promise and honour him in a way that he deserved to be honoured. He came on there just relentless man, so good.
I have to ask you about Twenty88. We managed to get a track from you guys on the album, but it’s been four years since THE album. Can we expect more music from you and Jhene as Twenty88?
Yeah I think so for sure. I don’t know how soon though that’s the only thing. It’s not done yet. If it was I’d let you know but it has to just get locked in. We just got to lock in and figure it out so hopefully. I can say that that’s the intention but the beautiful thing about her is that it’s never forced so we can’t ever force anything, it has to be right. So when it’s right it will be right.
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A few weeks ago you did a Q&A on your Twitter and someone asked you about UK rappers and you shouted out Dutchavelli. Are there any other UK rappers you’ve got your eye on or are listening to?
He’s hard. My homie put me onto one of his songs. I just like how that shit was just..the energy of it. But in terms of new UK rappers, not really, someone needs to put me on properly. He’s the only one that I was recently on and listening to. Me and Skepta was in the studio not too long ago and we were working on some stuff. I mean there a lot of people I fuck with from the UK but I want to be put onto a lot of newer artists too.
You started this interview talking about finding your purpose. In terms of how you approach music moving forward, how important is having that purpose to you now that you’ve found it?
It’s just a necessary ingredient for me. Of course I’m going to have fun with it, I think that’s important too, to have fun and to just be free and to do it with your heart. A lot of people always say to say it with your chest but I’m like man shit I got to say it with my heart.
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'Detroit 2' is out now.
Words: Aaron Bishop
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
In August 2019, Marie Davidson announced she would be turning her back on club music. Years of unforgiving touring schedules had taken their toll on her mental and physical health, and her disaffection with ‘club culture’ – already clear on 2016’s ‘Adieux au dancefloor’ – had intensified. ‘Renegade Breakdown’ sees her and her new group L’Œil Nu blithely try to rediscover the fun in music and collaboration.
Joined by Essaie pas collaborator and husband Pierre Guerineau and Montreal musician Asaël R. Robitaille, the trio explore a hotchpotch of genres: throughout, they throw disco, jazz, rock ballads, French touch and chanson at each other.
This amalgamation is the driving force behind some of the album’s most interesting results. ‘Center of the World (Kotti Blues)’ and its artful old OST groove, and ‘La Ronde’’s singsong motif, taken over by washes of noise and bells, are quick to convince. Others – ‘My Love’, the schmaltzy rhythms of ‘Just in my Head’ and the heavy ‘Back to Rock’ – take more time because they sound so uncool compared to her usually minimal stylings.
Mostly, however, the wide-screen echoes, chorused guitars, slap bass and sometimes cumbersome- sounding chords seem sincere rather than an ironic smokescreen. The crisp 80s chanson influence makes this album sound strangely familiar; this ‘déjà entendu’ sometimes evokes the ambiance of a smoky Parisian bar with a clunky karaoke machine. A considerable step down in intensity, it aims to soundtrack afterparties rather than dancefloors.
This pivot is not as puzzling as you’d think. Davidson has easily transitioned between dim clubs and big festivals and learned to balance her acerbic ‘existential pop’ with hard-nosed techno. Drawing on the former, ‘Renegade Breakdown’’s appeal is in some ways broader, but she also risks putting off some of the initiated.
On the whole, it functions as a reminder of the virtues of going against the grain and not playing it safe. On the title track, she explores ‘the loser’s point of view’ but elsewhere sounds justifiably triumphant about the outcome of the group’s experimentation. The album has an emotional heft that comes from singing about what’s near to the heart (love, loneliness, globe-trotting) and is a fun listen to boot: ‘C’est parce que j'm'en fous’ (‘Because I don’t care’) and single ‘Worst Comes To Worst’ are catchy, sophisticated takes on dancy euro pop.
There is undeniably a tension between these two strands but enough to bring them together, since it is easy to hear the fun that went into making it. The group are like actors playing parts outside their repertoire, giggling after the curtain falls at the strangeness of it all, and then realising, in fact, that they feel comfortable in their new roles. The audience might well twig this.
7/10
Words: Wilf Skinner
Dig It? Dig Deeper! Mylène Farmer, Fleetwood Mac, Lizzy Mercier Descloux
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Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Keeled Scales have laid out plans for a new charity compilation, featuring Big Thief, Sharon Van Etten and more.
The new compilation is title 'To the People of the Land: Carrizo/Comecrudo Solidarity Compilation', and it will hit streaming services on October 9th.
Subsequently being available through Bandcamp on October 9th, the release aims to raise funds for and the highlight the cause of the Carrizzo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas.
The indigenous people are threatened by three liquid natural gas terminals and pipelines, planned for construction through native land.
Keeled Scales write:
As indigenous people continue to lead the fight against the reckless fossil fuel industry, we are honored to offer this compilation and its earnings in solidarity with everyone in the fight for racial justice and a livable future for all beings on planet earth. We will be donating 100% of revenue from this compilation directly to the Carrizzo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas (the Estok'Gna) as they reclaim their land and culture and fight continued genocide and environmental racism.
'To the People of the Land: Carrizo/Comecrudo Solidarity Compilation' lands on October 2nd, and features material from Big Thief, Sharon Van Etten, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Jess Williamson, and more.
Order it HERE.
Tracklist:
Aisha Burns – 'Chinati'
Pablo. – 'Looking Within' (Land Back) (feat. Andy Torres)
Black Belt Eagle Scout – 'My Blood Runs Through This Land'
Sun June – '16 Riders (demo)'
Molly Burch – 'Every Little Thing' (demo)
Tenci – 'Cold Dirty Water' (demo)
Big Thief – 'Jane' (demo)
Renée Reed – 'J’ai Trouvé'
Little Wings – 'Movin Right Along'
Justin Boyd & Thor Harris – 'The Godless Sky Looks On In Disbelief'
Jolie Holland – 'Painted Bird'
Will Johnson – 'Need of Trust and Thunder' (demo)
Julian Neel – 'Carolina Wren'
Christelle Bofale – 'And I’ll Go' (demo)
Jesse Wooten – 'Sometimes To Rise'
Tele Novella – 'He Needs Me'
Jess Williamson – 'Harm None' (live)
Sleep Good – 'Summertime Feeling'
Little Mazarn – 'Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie'
RF Shannon – 'Cedar Perfume'
Sharon Van Etten – 'Untitled'
Jo Schornikow – 'Election Year'
Twain – 'The Kiss' (demo)
Karima Walker – 'Uncovering'
Longriver – 'The Way That It Is' (alternate version)
Jackie Venson – 'Lost in Time' (live)
Jesse Woods – 'Shattering My Shadow'
Jordan Moser – 'Limestone Trail'
Cowboy Crisis – 'Humming Still Goes Walking By'
Erin Durant – 'Highway Blue' (demo)
Future Museums – 'Jojoba Joy'Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
