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In March, Fever Ray released their first new album in over five years, Radical Romantics. The project arrived as a welcome return for the artist, also known as Swedish singer Karin Dreijer (half of the sibling duo The Knife), as they explore the idea of love by questioning, deconstructing and rebuilding the concept in their own intriguing way.
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Filled with 10 metallic synth-pop tracks, which see-saw between atmospheric and industrial, Radical Romantics follows Fever Ray’s 2017 album, the acclaimed Plunge. In support of the new set’s release, Fever Ray will set out on the There’s No Place I’d Rather Be Tour, their first trek since 2018. The U.S. leg kicks off May 1 in Washington, D.C.
In the latest edition of Billboard’s 20 questions, Fever Ray discusses their most memorable recent show at “a wonderful punk venue,” how they celebrated the album’s release (and who they dressed up as… spoiler: it’s from one of their music videos) and much more.
1. What’s the first piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?
The first record I bought was a 7” with Cyndi Lauper’s “All Through the Night.” I thought it was the best thing I’ve ever heard. I still like it.
2. What was the first concert you saw?
I don’t remember — my dad took me to some, I guess. But I went to my first festival when I was 15, Hultsfredsfestivalen, in 1990. 22 Pistepirkko I remember [them playing]. That was a great show.
3. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?
I guess I realized it myself when I started to make money out of it. I’ve done it the past 20 years now. Before that I had other jobs as well.
4. What was your first job?
I was cleaning hotel rooms.
5. Whose career path continues to inspire you most?
I think I get inspired by people who are passionate about what they do, who keep on learning new things, who understand how to combine work with relationships, friends, family and manages to take care of themselves. It can be in any profession.
6. How did your hometown shape who you are?
I lived in the same place from 6 to 18 — it was sort of out in nowhere, outside Gothenburg. There were small streets with the same exact houses in straight rows. Only houses and a lot of forest around. There was a tennis hall, too, so everybody played tennis. Except our family, although my sister started to do that later. I guess music was a way to find a space where I could be me, a way to understand that there’s something else than this.
7. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?
I would have loved to see Eurythmics around the Savage album. And Cyndi Lauper when she released “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
8. What’s the best or favorite concert you have seen so far this year, why?
I haven’t seen so many unfortunately, cause I’ve been working too much with the tour. But I saw Sarah Parkman a few weeks ago in Gothenburg. She has an incredible voice, it was a great show.
9. What’s the last album you listened to in one sitting?
Bendik Giske’s Cracks, I love it.
10. What’s your favorite album of all time?
Around the World in a Day with Prince.
11. How did you celebrate the release of your third album, Radical Romantics?
We had a big party in Stockholm with many great DJs and performances — people said afterwards it was like a queer reunion after the pandemics. I was there as Demonalisa from the “Even It Out” video.
12. What song on the album was particularly challenging to write?
I think writing is always a mix of easy and light — some days everything is clear and some days everything’s a struggle. I work office hours, mostly. I think routines are the best way to get things done, even though routines also van be a struggle. Days when you don’t get ideas, you just practice — practice a new instrument, practice vocals, practice a new plug-in. You just have to stay in it.
13. You’ve long worked with your brother, and he’s a co-writer on several tracks here. What’s the key to working with family?
I have no idea. I’ve never thought of it like that. I don’t think of family as something blood-related either; family are the people you keep close. It’s six years between Olof and I, so we didn’t share much as kids. I had a strong urge quite early to break out from there, I moved out when I was 18. So it was later we started to do things together — he had started making music by the computer and we played around with it one summer. That’s how it started.
14. If you had to pick one lyric that you have thought about or revisited most since the album released, which one would it be and why?
I think they all mean a lot to me. It’s interesting to perform them live now — you have to learn to live with them. When you write them and record them, you just think about how to tell this specific story, once. But now, you have to make friends with them in another way.
15. What’s your karaoke go-to?
I am too shy to karaoke.
16. What show of yours stands out as being particularly moving or memorable?
My recent one was den Atelier in Luxemburg. We didn’t have any expectations — it’s a bit of a strange city, very clean and a lot of money. Then we played at a wonderful punk venue and the audience was just amazing, we had such a good time.
17. What’s your favorite book?
My oldest kid made me re-read Kathy Acker lately, who I love.
18. What’s your favorite film or TV show?
I love so many films. Those by John Waters are new favorites.
19.. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
You have to make friends with yourself. Treat yourself like your own best friend.
20. What remains at the top of your professional bucket list?
I am very grateful of everything that’s happened already. When finishing an album I always think of the last album I’ve made like the very last I will make, that I might do something completely different next time. I don’t have a professional bucket list. I’d like to keep working and collaborate with fun people, there’s a lot of things that needs to be widened and explored.
Rancid slammed back to life on Tuesday (April 18) with the galloping title track from their upcoming 10th studio album, Tomorrow Never Comes. “No judge, no jury, no civil rights/ Show up on the line, get ready to fight/ Run the streets and seize the night/ Mow ’em f–king down/ Everyone know it’s all about hate/ Take control, go eliminate,” singer Tim Armstrong bellows on the song over the veteran California punk quartet’s signature galloping drums, shouted gang backing vocals and slashy guitars.
Produced by Bad Religion guitarist, Epitaph Records founder and longtime collaborator Brett Gurewitz, the song is the first taste of the 16-track album due out on June 2nd on Epitaph as the follow-up to 2017’s Trouble Maker. The bull-rushing tune was accompanied by a frenetic black and white performance video co-directed by Armstrong and music video legend Kevin Kerslake (Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers) in which co-vocalist/guitarist Lars Frederkisen bellows the chorus, “Don’t you tell me about tomorrow/ Cause tomorrow will never come/ Gonna cheat, steal, and borrow/ Cause tomorrow never comes/ Tomorrow tomorrow (Tomorrow never comes)/ Tomorrow tomorrow (Tomorrow never comes).”
Other songs on the album include “Mud, Blood & Gold,” “New American,” “Drop Dead Inn,” “Magnificent Rogue,” “Hellbound Train” and “When the Smoke Clears.” Rancid will kick off a European tour on June 2 at the Slam Dunk in Rimini, Italy that will keep them on the road through a June 25 show in the Czech Republic before hopping back to the U.S. for a Sept. 9 show at the Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY and a gig at the Aftershock club in Sacramento, CA on Oct. 8; click here to see the list of tour dates.
Watch the”Tomorrow Never Comes” video and see the full track listing below.
Tomorrow Never Comes tracklist:
1. “Tomorrow Never Comes”2. “Mud, Blood, & Gold” 3. “Devil In Disguise” 4. “New American” 5. “The Bloody & Violent History” 6. “Don’t Make Me Do It” 7. “It’s a Road to Righteousness”8. “Live Forever” 9. “Drop Dead Inn” 10. “Prisoners Song” 11. “Magnificent Rogue” 12. “One Way Ticket” 13. “Hellbound Train” 14. “Eddie the Butcher” 15. “Hear Us Out” 16. “When The Smoke Clears”
Imagine if the classic 1995-1997 lineup of beloved battling Brit Pop band Oasis had stayed together and continued making music. Now you don’t have to thanks to the British band Breezer, who spent their pandemic lockdown writing and recording an album that taps into the classic everything-all-at-once sound and fury of Oasis’ landmark first three albums: Definitely Maybe (1994), (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) and Be Here Now.
AISIS is a mind-expanding 8-song album that eerily mimics the Gallagher brothers’ sound on tracks written and recorded by Breezer in the group’s style, with the original singer’s voice later replaced by an AI vocals in the style of Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.
“AISIS is an alternate reality concept album where the band’s 95-97 line-up continued to write music, or perhaps all got together years later to write a record akin to the first 3 albums, and only now has the master DAT tape from that session surfaced,” reads a note from the band. “We’re bored of waiting for Oasis to reform, so we’ve got an AI modelled Liam Gallagher (inspired by @JekSpek) to step in and help out on some tunes that were written during lockdown 2021 for a short lived, but much loved band called Breezer.”
While some labels and artists are hurtling in a panic to stop AI versions of their music — with a fake Drake and The Weeknd viral hit quickly pulled from streamers this week — notoriously cantankerous vocalist Gallagher responded to a fan’s question on Wednesday (April 19) about whether he’s heard it and what he thinks. Yes, he said, he had, and in classic Liam fashion he added that he’d only heard one tune but that it was “better than all the other snizzle out there.”
Better still, in response to another query about his thoughts on the computer-generated Liam, the perma-swaggering singer proclaimed “Mad as f–k I sound mega.” He’s not wrong, as songs such as the bullrushing openers “Out of My Mind” and “Time” perfectly capture peak Oasis’ signature mix of swirling guitars, hedonistic fury and Liam’s snarling, nasally vocals. The psychedelic rager “Forever” and expansive ballad “Tonight” nail songwriter/guitarist/singer Noel Gallagher’s stuffed-to-exploding arrangements and Beatles fetish, amid such spot-on touches as the sound of the tide washing out, layers of sitar and a lyrical nod to Mott the Hoople’s David Bowie-penned 1972 smash “All the Young Dudes.”
As any Oasis fan knows, AISIS is as close as anyone is likely to come to an actual reunion of the group that split in 2009 after Liam left, setting off more than a decade of acrimonious back-and-forth between the famously battling singer and brother Noel as each has pursued their respective solo projects.
See Gallagher’s tweets and listen to AISIS album below.
Not the album heard a tune it’s better than all the other snizzle out there— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 19, 2023
Mad as fuck I sound mega— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 19, 2023
A month after three nine-year-old children and three adults were murdered at Nashville’s Covenant School in a mass shooting, some of the city’s biggest names have signed a petition imploring the state General Assembly to pass “common sense gun legislation.”
As reported by the Tennessean (story is paywalled), artists including Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Amy Grant, Rodney Crowell, Kelsea Ballerini, Mickey Guyton, Michelle Branch, Shane McAnally, Martina McBride, Maren Morris, Margo Price, Lucinda Williams, Jars of Clay, Jason Isbell, Ben Folds, Allison Moorer and dozens of others sent a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly this week asking legislators to pass extreme risk protection laws (also known as “Red Flag” laws) and to strengthen requirements about the safe storage of firearms.
“Gun violence in Tennessee is not inevitable,” the group said in the letter. “We are not hopeless, and we will not accept inaction. This does not have to be our normal and we ask that you stand with us! We know that gun safety laws work. Policies like extreme risk protection laws and secure storage of firearms can save lives. And we ask that you keep your session open until these policies are put into place.”
Crow and Grant were also reportedly joined by Ruby Amanfu and Will Hoge on Tuesday (April 18) to deliver the letter to state lawmakers before the upcoming scheduled end of the current session.
“We need to put the safety of our children above politics and special interests,” read the group’s letter. “We appreciate Governor Lee taking steps towards creating a safer community against gun violence, however we believe these are only the first steps in improving the safety for our children and Tennesseans. It’s time for you to pass effective measures that will keep guns out of dangerous hands before the shooting starts.”
The nation’s latest mass school shooting has once again led to calls for the passage of common sense gun legislation, with TN Gov. Bill Lee saying last week that he will sign an executive order strengthening background checks for buying firearms in his state as well as calling for the red flag law that would allow emergency court orders allowing police to temporarily confiscate weapons from those deemed a risk to themselves and others.
The Tennessean reported that the term “red flag law” is considered anathema in gun-rights circles, with the National Rifle Association sending out a call to supporters this week asking them to tell their lawmakers that they oppose the kinds of extreme-risk orders that have been passed in such conservative states as Florida, which passed one after the 2019 Parkland School shooting that left 14 students and three adults dead.
“Anything that’s pushed to a later agenda just loses momentum,” Christian singer/songwriter Grant said in a nod to the support for new gun legislation in the wake of the shooting at the private Christian elementary school. “There’s too much pain to lose momentum… As songwriters, there’s not a song when you show up at 10 a.m. — you just talk until the ideas come together. There is a force in communication, especially when it’s a shared goal. By the end of the day, you’ve got a chorus. You actually can create something out of nothing with the right kind of concerted effort, and it can be game-changing.”
The letter came from Voices for a Safer Tennessee, a nonpartisan group formed in the wake of the Covenant shooting that is reportedly heavily lobbying lawmakers behind-the-scenes. In addition to the letter, the group staged an event in Nashville on Tuesday night where thousands of people linked arms to form a human chain that stretched from the Tennessee Capitol to the hospital where victims of the shooting were transported on March 27.
See the list of artists who signed the letter below:
Allison Moorer
Allison Russell
Amy Grant
Ben Folds
Ben Rector
Brandy Clark
Brittany Howard
Brittney Spencer
Charlie Worsham
Devon Gilfillian
Drew & Ellie Holcomb
Emmylou Harris
Gabe Simon
Hayes Carll
Jason Isbell
Jars of Clay
Jess Ray
Jimi Westbrook
John Tibbs
Kacey Musgraves
Karen Fairchild
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsey Waldon
Ketch Secor
Langhorn Slim
Leah Blevins
Lola Kirke
Lucie Silvas
Lucinda Williams
Lydia Luce
Madeline Edwards
Maggie Rose
Margaret Becker
Margo Price
Maren Morris
Martina McBride
Mat Kearney
Matt Maher
Maxi Diaz
Michelle Branch
Mickey Guyton
Miko Marks
Nick Howard
Patrick Carney
Paul McDonald
Rodney Crowell
Ron Pope
Ruby Amanfu
Ruston Kelly
Ryan Hurd
Sarah Buxton
Sarah Jarosz
Shane McAnally
Sheryl Crow
Sierra Hull
Sista Strings
Sixpence None the Richer
The Brook & the Bluff
The Cadillac Three
The Wood Brothers
TJ Osborne
Will Hoge
“It came in a flash/ It came out of nowhere/ It happened so fast/ And then it was over/ Are you thinking what I’m thinking?/ Is this happening now?” Those are the opening lines to “Rescued,” the raw, let it bleed first single from the Foo Fighters‘ upcoming 11th album, But Here We Are, their first since the shocking death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March.
The rager propelled by the band’s signature mix of Dave Grohl’s primal scream emotion and lyrical elegance — including a section where he howls “rescue me tonight” over rolling drums — will be featured on the 10 song But Here We Are, due out on June 2 on Roswell Records/RCA Records.
“We’re all free to some degree to dance under the lights/ I’m just waiting to be rescued/ Bring me back to life,” Grohl sings wistfully on the song’s chorus.
Produced by frequent collaborator Greg Kurstin and the band, the collection is described in a press release as “the first chapter of the band’s new life.” The initial single from the group whose resting pulse is keep-on-keepin’-on is the first new music we’ve heard from the Foos since the unimaginable loss of their literal and emotional heartbeat. The release dubs the album, “a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year… a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family. Courageous, damaged and unflinchingly authentic.”
It promises that “Rescued” is just one piece of a tracklist that runs the emotional gamut from “rage and sorrow to serenity and acceptance, and myriad points in between,” while tapping into the naiveté of the band’s 1995 debut, but also informed by nearly three decades of maturity and depth.
“But Here We Are is the sound of brothers finding refuge in the music that brought them together in the first place 28 years ago, a process that was as therapeutic as it was about a continuation of life,” it promises.
To date, the Foos have announced 25 U.S. and European festival and headliner dates for this summer and fall, but have not said who will replace the energetic, beloved timekeeper whose death at 50 while on tour in South America devastated the group and their fans. It was unclear at press time who plays drums on the track and who will sit behind the kit for live shows; a spokesperson for the group had not returned requests for comment at press time on who performs on the song and who will play with them on tour.
Listen to “Rescued” and see the But Here We Are tracklist below.
But Here We Are tracklist:
“Rescued” “Under You”“Hearing Voices”“But Here We Are” “The Glass”“Nothing At All” “Show Me How” “Beyond Me”“The Teacher”“Rest”
“I don’t know if there was ever a right time or a wrong time,” says Staind frontman Aaron Lewis of bringing the band back to active duty with a new album. “It just felt like it was finally time to do it.”
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The heavy rock quartet from Massachusetts just released “Lowest in Me,” its first new single since 2012 and the lead track from Confessions of the Fallen, Staind’s first new studio album in 12 years. The 10-track set, produced by Erik Ron (Godsmack, Panic! at the Disco, Black Veil Brides) is expected out this fall on Alchemy Recordings/BMG, following Staind’s summer tour with Godsmack.
“I always hoped we would be able to do this,” guitarist Mike Mushok tells Billboard in a separate interview. “I’m really happy that we’re playing again and making music. We started back in ’94. It was so consuming of my life, up until it stopped. We were always writing or on the road or working, and I loved it. So it’s nice to have that back.”
During its initial run, Staind scored four platinum-or-better albums and notched 13 top 10 Mainstream Rock Airplay hits — including the No. 1s “It’s Been Awhile,” “So Far Away,” “Right Here” and “Not Again.” The band went on hiatus during the summer of 2012 but promised that it was not breaking up. Lewis began a successful solo career in country music, while Mushok formed another group, the still-active Saint Asonia, and played in former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted’s group.
After some occasional reunions, Staind went on tour again during 2019, which spawned the 2021 release Live: It’s Been Awhile, which it followed with another tour last year. “It’s taken me a long time to be ready to do another Staind record,” says Lewis, acknowledging that the personal angst that populated the band’s music took a toll on him. “I got really burnt out on digging into the dark corners of my psyche every night to deliver those very deep, dark songs in a manner that was believable and authentic. I needed to step away from it for awhile and do something different. It just came back together naturally.”
The hard-rocking “Lowest in Me” is hardly sweetness and light, of course. Though he contends that “I never know what the f–k the songs are about unless it’s blatantly obvious to me,” Lewis says the single has both personal and universal meanings. “Everybody has got people in their lives that don’t bring out the good in somebody,” he explains. “Just with what’s going on in the world right now, there’s so many things, so many people that are like, ‘You bring out the lowest in me.’ There’s a lot of factors out there that could fall under the ‘you’ category.”
Mushok says he came up with the riff for “Lowest in Me” during the 2019 tour. “Every day I would set up a little ProTools rig on the bus,” he recalls. “I had a laptop and an interface, and I’d just sit there and play and find something I liked. And that was one I came up with.” Lewis adds that when Staind decided to move forward on another album, Mushok presented him with “an entire work tape full of ideas, there must’ve been 30 ideas there. I found stuff I liked and chopped ’em up and put ’em back together and made songs out of them.” “Lowest in Me” and Confessions of the Fallen was created with the members working mostly apart from each other during the pandemic lockdown, and the band made greater use of electronic sonic textures and enhancements than it ever had before.
“I guess it inspired me a little bit to be doing something different than what Staind would normally have done,” Lewis acknowledges. “To work with programmed beats and ethereal, spacey sections…. It just was a very different approach than how it would’ve been before.”
And that was fine by Mushok. “There were many surprises,” the guitarist notes. “That was part of the conversation. That was something Aaron wanted to bring into the band. He’d listen, I think, to a lot of the more modern rock bands and embraced what they were doing with (electronics) and stuff like that. Some of the parts are the same parts that we wrote, they just might not be played on an instrument we normally would have played them on, which gives it a little bit of a different feel. And that’s fine. I’m always cool with whatever changes are made.”
Staind will find out what fans think of those new directions as more songs from Confessions of the Fallen roll out. In the meantime, the band — which also includes bassist Johnny April and drummer Sal Giancarelli — is gearing up for the road, starting the co-headlining dates with Godsmack on July 18 in St. Louis and playing 25 dates through Aug. 31 in Austin, Texas.
“I think it’ll be a great tour,” Lewis predicts. “I’m looking forward to touring with some of my friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. My paths don’t really cross with them anymore ’cause I’m playing shows in a completely different genre, so I don’t see them like I would in the past. I think everybody will be happy.”
All Things Go Festival is coming back for its ninth year in 2023, and women are leading the top of the bill. The Washington, D.C.-based fest unveiled its full lineup and dates on Tuesday (April 18), in addition to details on how fans can get tickets.
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The two-day festival (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) at Merriweather Post Pavillion will be topped by Maggie Rogers, Carly Rae Jepsen and Mt. Joy on day one, while Lana Del Rey supergroup Boygenius will headline day two. Fleshing out the rest of the festival lineup are: MUNA, Beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Mt. Joy, Lizzy McApline, Fletcher, Tegan and Sara, Suki Waterhouse, Raye, Ella Jane, The Wombats, Peach Pit, Dayglow, Vacations, Sudan Archives, Meet Me @ The Altar, Alex G, Vundabar, Alvvays and more. The lineup follows last year’s sold-out festival, which featured headliners Lorde, Mitski and Bleachers.
The fan presale begins on Thursday (April 20) at 10 a.m. ET, with the general on-sale slated to follow on Friday (April 21) at 10 a.m. ET.
Single-day general admission tickets for the festival start at $105 ($125 for tier two), and increase depending on the seating type or VIP; two day passes start at $185 ($225 for tier two). There is also a “Super Suite” VIP pass ($450/$550) that includes access to the VIP suite, elevated, unobstructed views from the balcony of the Pavilion Stage and a VIP viewing area on the Chrysalis Stage, a VIP host with concierge service to cash bar and food and other upgrades. Presale and general on-sale tickets will be available through seated.com.
See the full line up for All Things Go Festival 2023 below.
Eric Clapton dropped the star-studded lineup for his 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival on Monday morning (April 17). This year’s event will take place over two nights (Sept. 23-24) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where Clapton will again gather some of the best guitar players in the world for headlining sets and impromptu collabs.
Though not everyone on the roster will repeat over the weekend, Clapton will perform both nights, joined by Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Santana, Jakob Dylan, Albert Lee, Los Lobos, Stephen Stills, Taj Mahal, ZZ Top, the John Mayer Trio, Robert Randolph, H.E.R., Marcus King and many more.
Tickets for the fest will go on sale on Friday (April 21) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster; there are no two-day passes, only single-day tickets.
Also slated to perform at the event are: Joe Bonamassa, Doyal Bramhall II, James Bullard, Jerry Douglas, Andy Fairweather Low, Samantha Fish, Sonny Landreth, Pedro Martins, John McLaughlin, Del McCoury Band, Roger McGuinn, Keb’ Mo’, Ariel Posen, Eric Gales, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Ben Haggard, Sierra Hull, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, The Bros. Landreth, Robbie Robertson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gustavo Santaolalla, Daniel Santiago, Molly Tuttle, Jimmie Vaughan, Breadley Walker and The War on Drugs.
Longtime co-sponsor Guitar Center will again host the Guitar Center Festival Village at the adjacent Xbox Plaza and Chick Hearn Court at L.A. Live, where some of the world’s best guitar and gear manufacturers will host interactive exhibits where fans can try out new products and instruments.
In addition to some multi-million-dollar historical guitars on display at the Legends Collection area, there will also be an unveiling of the 25th anniversary Crossroads Guitar Collection, a rare series of limited-edition guitars based on some of Clapton’s vintage gear; a significant portion of profits from the sale of the guitars will go to aid Clapton’s Crossroads Centre at Antigua treatment and education facility.
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Metallica celebrated National American Sign Language Day on Saturday (April 15) by announcing that they will become the first-ever major rock band to release American Sign Language (ASL) videos for every song from their new album. The roll-out began with the official ASL visual for the 72 Seasons title track, which features ASL interpretation from flame-haired Amber Galloway, a fan favorite festival sign language interpreter.
The clip features Galloway taking up one-third of the screen and signing the song’s two-minute guitar intro and galloping drums before tackling singer James Hetfield’s urgent vocals. The project is a collaboration between Metallica and the nonprofit Deaf Professional Arts Network (DPAN) and Galloway’s Amber G Productions.
In a video announcement, self-described hardcore deaf Metallica fan Tom Osbourne explained the project, signing, “It is my honor to announce that on April 25th Metallica will release ALL music videos from 72 Seasons in ASL. Metallica is the first major rock band to do this!”
In a band statement about the title track ASL video — and the upcoming 11 other 72 Seasons ASL clips — the group praised Galloway, who has gone viral several times for her high-energy signing at festivals including Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza. “It’s been an honor to work with Amber and DPAN teams, and we hope that our fans in the deaf and hard of hearing community enjoy experiencing the album through these videos!” the band wrote.
In addition to their ASL video initiative, Metallica released three other videos over the weekend from the album that dropped on Friday. The animated Tristan Zammit-directed clip for “Shadows Fall” has heroic, anime-style versions of the quartet rocking out on a galactic sundial. Another Zammit-helmed animated clip for “Room of Mirrors” takes place in a haunted house filled with toothy flying eyeball monsters. A Tim Saccenti-directed live action performance clip for “Sleepwalk My Life Away” drops the Bay Area RRHOF members in a murky mountain landscape for a moodily lit performance under ominously swirling clouds.
In addition to 8 lyric videos, Metallica was slated to drop a new visual for “TooFar Gone?” at 10 a.m. ET on Monday (April 17).
Check out the ASL “72 Seasons,” ASL announcement and new videos below.
Bruce Springsteen’s birthday, Sept. 23, will be formally recognized as Bruce Springsteen Day in New Jersey. Phil Murphy, governor of the Garden State, made the announcement on April 15 at the inaugural American Music Honors, which were held at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J. The event was hosted by another favorite son of New Jersey, comedian Jon Stewart.
“Bruce Springsteen is one of the most recognizable, iconic and influential musicians – and New Jerseyans – of all time,” said Governor Murphy. “It is important that we recognize Bruce for all he has done and will continue to do, from giving us the gift of his music to lending his time to the causes close to his heart, including making the Archives and Center for American Music a repository that will inspire tomorrow’s songwriters and singers. We thank him for showing the world what it means to live our New Jersey values. I am both honored and proud to declare his birthday Bruce Springsteen Day in New Jersey.”
The official proclamation was studded with Bruce Springsteen lore and a fair number of Springsteen puns. A long litany of whereases concluded:
“WHEREAS, Bruce Springsteen will forever be remembered as the voice of the Garden State, signaling to the world that New Jerseyans were born to run;
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, Philip D. Murphy, Governor of the State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim: SEPTEMBER 23 AS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DAY for creating the soundtrack to our glory days.”
In his remarks at the event, Murphy had more to say about Springsteen.
“Truth be told, I know my place in the hierarchy of New Jersey. After all, I may be the 56th individual to be called ‘governor,’ but there will ever only be just one ‘Boss.’”
“…So, to you, Bruce, thank you for all you have done, and will continue to do – from giving us the gift of your music to lending your time to the causes close to your heard, including making the Archives and Center for American Music a repository that will inspire tomorrow’s songwriters and singers.”
“Thank you for showing the world what it makes to live our New Jersey values.”
Many artists are called “national treasures,” but Springsteen has the facts to back it up. In 2009, he performed at Barack Obama’s historic presidential inauguration. That same year, he was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, along with co-honorees Mel Brooks, Robert DeNiro, jazz great Dave Brubeck and opera singer Grace Bumbry.
In 2016, Springsteen received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama. In 2023, President Biden presented him the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and art patrons by the U.S. government.
Springsteen and Obama have had a long-lived friendship and partnership. In 2021, they collaborated on an eight-episode podcast series for Spotify, Renegades: Born in the USA, which was turned into a book.
Springsteen’s countless awards and honors include 20 Grammys, an Oscar for “Streets of Philadelphia,” a special, non-competitive Tony for Springsteen on Broadway and three Emmy nominations. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
Stevie Van Zandt, Sam Moore, Darlene Love and Steve Earle were the inaugural recipients of the American Music Honors.
Located within Monmouth University, the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music preserves Springsteen’s legacy and celebrates the history of American music and its diversity of artists and genres.
To see a copy of the proclamation, click here.