Clean Weird Prone includes the original 15-track Inner World Peace tracklist, along with unreleased tracks, demos, and alternate versions of the album’s songs. Frankie Cosmos’s mastermind, Greta Kline, shares about this release:
“Maybe it’s ego, maybe it’s an obsession with archiving, maybe it’s just for fun. But I have always had a bit of a focus on preserving the first way the song went. It’s hard for me to let go of my demos. These are some of the many seeds of the album. I wanted to share a sampling (I have about 5 times as much material) because Inner World Peace was a drawn-out and unique album process. “Since forming the band, I have always had tours breaking up writing and arranging time…until 2020. This was also the first album since Zentropy that I wrote without any release plan or hopes to tour. I think that freeness can be felt in the album and the demos.
My demo-ing process is extremely stripped down, and until 2020 I recorded my vocals straight into my computer mic or my earbud mic (track 5, “hey whatsup” is from that era). I can still carry my whole recording setup (sans instruments) in a tote bag. When I think about these recordings, I can physically place myself in a lot of them. Beds, floors, sometimes desks or tables. The internal and personal moment with the core of the song before it gets shared with bandmates and producers and expanded into the butterfly. These are my cocoons!”
Photo credit: Pooneh Ghana
As previously announced, Frankie Cosmos has a string of outdoor headline shows that begin on May 4th, in Los Angeles, with additional dates in Big Sur and San Francisco. The band is also confirmed to play Kilby Block Party Festival in Salt Lake City, UT, on May 12th.
Fri. May 12 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Block Party # Sun. May 07 - San Francisco, CA - The chapel (outside) Fri. May 05 - Big Sur, CA - Henry miller library $ Thur. May 04 - Los Angeles, CA - spoke cafe $ Wed. May 03 - Joshua Tree, CA - The Firehouse $
# w/ The Strokes, Pavement, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs + more
$ w/ Dear Nora
These dates mark Frankie Cosmos’s first time playing outside of their hometown of NYC since 2019 and are in support of Inner World Peace. The album and its singles garnered praise from The New York Times, PAPER, Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Consequence, PASTE, Under The Radar (“Best Albums of 2022”), and Uproxx.
Frankie Cosmos Clean Weird Prone (Inner World Peace Deluxe)
Tracklisting 1. Abigail 2. Aftershook 3. Fruit Stand 4. Magnetic Personality 5. Wayne 6. Sky Magnet 7. A Work Call 8. Empty Head 9. Fragments 10. Prolonging Babyhood 11. One Year Stand 12. F.O.O.F. 13. Street View 14. Spare the Guitar 15. Heed the Call 16. one year stand (Alex moodboard) 17. empty head (demo) 18. aftershook (demo) 19. i’m not worried 20. hey whatsup 21. fragments (demo) 22. sky magnet (Alex demo) 23. a work call (demo) 24. wayne (demo) 25. must be nice (single tear)
What people are saying about Frankie Cosmos Inner World Peace: “Minimal and impressionistic — a collection of small features that coalesce into a vivid landscape.” [“One Year Stand”] - PAPER
“Instrumentally understated, with cheeky and sweet lyrics sung in Greta’s classic whispery tone. The band stays true to their bedroom indie sound through the song and music video” [“One Year Stand”] - Brooklyn Vegan
“Patient and lush.” [“One Year Stand”] - Uproxx
“Dreamy” [“One Year Stand”] - Consequence of Sound
“The band’s instrumentation feels more substantial, bringing in a loose, psychedelic groove that feels like new ground. Buoyed by a winsome melody and spirited rhythm section, Frankie Cosmos’ latest single “F.O.O.F.” (“Freak Out on Friday”), continues this collaborative streak. Kline is abuzz with anticipation on the power-pop gem…” - Pitchfork
“Robert Smith was in love on Friday, Rebecca Black had to get down on Friday and now Greta Kline — leader of the indie-pop project Frankie Cosmos — freaks out on Friday. That’s what the playful acronym “F.O.O.F.” stands for and, accordingly, the latest single from Frankie Cosmos’s forthcoming album “Inner World Peace” is alive with Kline’s signature wry, muted humor. “It’s still Wednesday, I have to wait two more sleeps ’til I can freak,” Kline sighs, while a mildly noodly guitar solo saves up its most raucous energy. That the brief song ends before that promised freakout is the point: Kline is more interested in capturing that hopeful, anticipatory feeling — usually a comforting fiction — that everything will be all right once the weekend comes.” - New York Times
“Their latest preview of the record, “F.O.O.F.” (short for “Freak Out on Friday”) is a concise song about the way certain feelings are anything but. Over a breezy pop-rock instrumental accented by gently psychedelic guitars and keys, Kline marvels at the elasticity of time…the band’s own history folding in on itself. The song captures, on multiple levels, how the pandemic era has rewritten the rules of societal tension and release, complicating emotional regulation to the point that we each have to get reacquainted with who we really are.” - PASTE
Beach House is sharing new details for Become, the band’s previously announced new five-song EP.
Become was initially released as a Record Store Day exclusive on crystal clear vinyl on Saturday, April 22nd. The EP will now see a wider release on black vinyl/CD/CS on Friday, May 19th, and can be preordered worldwide from Sub Pop, with the exceptions of Europe through Bella Union and Australia/New Zealand from Mistletone.
Become will also be available to stream on all DSPs beginning Friday, April 28th at midnight (local).
Become features the songs “Holiday House,” “American Daughter,” “Devil’s Pool,” “Black Magic,” and the title track, and was produced by Beach House, with mixing by Alan Moulder (track 1), Trevor Spencer (tracks 2, 3, 5), and Caesar Edmunds (track 4), and mastering by Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound.
“The Become EP is a collection of 5 songs from the Once Twice Melody sessions. We didn’t think they fit in the world of OTM, but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To us, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It’s not really where we are currently going, but it’s definitely somewhere we have been. We hope you enjoy these tunes,” Alex and Victoria/Beach House.
Beach House Become
Tracklisting: 1. American Daughter 2. Devil’s Pool 3. Holiday House 4. Black Magic 5. Become
Once Twice Melody earned “Best Albums of 2022” placement from the likes of The New Yorker, Variety, The Ringer, Under the Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, The AV Club, Stereogum, PAPER, PASTE, All Music, PopMatters, Pitchfork “Readers Poll,” Gorilla vs. Bear, Treble, Magnet, No Ripcord, Uncut, Uproxx “Critics Poll,” and more.
Once Twice Melody also peaked at #1 on Billboard’s Albums Sales Chart, the band’s first-ever record to do so. It also debuted at #1 on the Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Tastemaker Albums, and Top Current Album Sales charts (see Billboard’s March 1st news story). The album also spent six weeks at #1 on the NACC 200 College Charts. Beach House also performed Once Twice Melody standout “Superstar” on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Earlier this month, Beach House’s “Space Song,” from their 2015 album Depression Cherry, was certified as a Double Platinum digital single. Meanwhile, “Myth” from 2012’s Bloom also saw certification as a Gold digital single.
On Friday, June 30th, Sub Pop will release the 30th-anniversary edition of Six Finger Satellite’s The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird, the group’s underground classic and debut full-length from 1993, with a brand new, fully remastered CD and double-LP reissue.
Formed in 1990 in Providence, Rhode Island by J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums), Six Finger Satellite quickly signed to Sub Pop and released the band’s first demo tape as the Weapon EP.
Following Weapon, Dixon left the group and was replaced by Kurt Niemand, and the band quickly jumped into making their debut full-length with Bob Weston (of Shellac, who later named a single The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger in honor of Six Finger Satellite). Released in 1993, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird was the first release to truly capture the adventurous, biting spirit and sound of Six Finger Satellite.
The album is a landmark of noisy, distressing post-punk, drawing influence from Gang of Four, The Birthday Party, and Wire while adding a healthy dose of the band’s own, unique sonic antagonism. Amongst the brittle rock tracks, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird has dashes of ahead-of-their-time keyboard and studio experiments that became more prominent on the band’s later albums, presaging LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records, and much of the early-2000s post-punk revival.
All Music offers this, “This is the band’s rawest record, featuring the least amount of studio gadgetry and manipulation. J. Ryan’s voice bears no effects or bizarrely buried/contorted trickery, sounding hoarse and anxious throughout. Nonetheless, it certainly sets the table for the band’s love of noise and lunacy, combined with a healthy splash of bizarre humor. Hardly any other indie band at the time was doing this.”
In 2008, Pitchfork rightly called The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird “one of the best noise-rock records of the ‘90s,” writing that “the transitions from silly to searing highlight Six Finger Satellite’s unpredictable and caustic approach… this was the first of several examples of them spurning underground trends, and their most exhilaratingly bitter pill to swallow.”
The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird is now available to preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America, and the UK and EU, will receive the limited Loser edition on Red and Blue vinyl. The album will also feature a new cover design.
Six Finger Satellite The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird
Tracklisting: 1. [Untitled] 2. Home for the Holy Day 3. [Untitled] 4. Laughing Larry 5. [Untitled] 6. Funny Like a Clown 7. [Untitled] 8. Deadpan 9. [Untitled] 10. Hi-Lo Jerk 11. [Untitled] 12. Love (via Satellite) 13.[Untitled] 14. Save the Last Dance for Larry 15. [Untitled] 16. Solitary Hiro 17. [Untitled] 18. Neuro-Harmonic Conspiracy 19. [Untitled] 20. Takes One to Know One 21. [Untitled] 22. [Untitled] 23. Takes One To Know One 24. [Untitled]
Today, June 13th, marks the release of “Every Day’s a Lesson in Humility,” a new collaboration from Suki Waterhouse and Belle and Sebastian, available now on all DSPs and as a limited-edition vinyl 7”.
The sweet and summery “Every Day’s a Lesson in Humility” was written by Suki Waterhouse and Belle and Sebastian, produced by Belle and Sebastian, mixed by Kevin Burleigh at Gorbals Sound Recording Studios in Glasgow, and mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios in London.
“Every Day’s a Lesson in Humility” is the B-side to Suki Waterhouse’s “To Love” 7” single, being released as part of the very limited Sub Pop Singles Club, Vol. 8, which can be had only by subscribing at the Sub Pop Mega Mart.
In 2022, Suki Waterhouse released her debut album, I Can’t Let Go, and her follow-up EP of earlier material, Milk Teeth, released later that year. The latter features her single “Good Looking,” which went viral on TikTok and peaked at #1 on Spotify’s Viral USA Chart. The song amassed more than 170 million streams and led to 5 million monthly listeners at Spotify, to date.
Suki wrapped the “Coolest Place in the World Tour,” her sold-out, North American headline run earlier this year. She also supported Father John Misty on his 2022 North American tour, which included stops at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Forever Cemetery, New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and more. Recently, she also starred as Karen Sirko in “Daisy Jones & The Six,” the hit Amazon television miniseries based on the popular book by Taylor Jenkins Reid. For 2023, Suki is currently in the midst of a summer and fall US festival run which includes appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Ohana Festivals.
With a legacy spanning three decades, Belle and Sebastian have truly earned their place in music history. The unique, unpredictable, and fiercely loved band have a plethora of accolades and plaudits to their name including winning the “Best Newcomers” BRIT in 1999, selling out the Hollywood Bowl, and contributing to the soundtrack for an array of films (Juno, The Power of Nightmares).
In 2019, Belle and Sebastian hosted a 4-day festival at sea, The Boaty Weekender, twenty years on from their pioneering holiday-camp-held festival, The Bowlie Weekender, featuring friends and contemporaries including Mogwai, Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub, Camera Obscura, Django Django, and many others.
Belle and Sebastian’s most recent output, 2022s A Bit Of Previous, and its surprise follow-up, Late Developers, in early 2023, saw the band continuing to reinvent itself while remaining true to its independent spirit. They will support both albums with a series of UK, and EU dates this summer.
Suki Waterhouse Tour Dates Thu. Jun. 15 - Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival Thu. Aug. 03 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue Sat. Aug. 05 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza Sat. Sep. 30 - Columbia, MD - All Things Go Festival Sun. Oct. 01 - Dana Point, CA - Ohana Festival
Belle and Sebastian Tour Dates Sun. Jun. 25 - Antwerp, BE - Middenvijver Linkeroever Sun. Jul. 02 - Dublin, IE - 3Olympia Theatre Mon. Jul. 03 - Belfast, UK - The Limelight 1 Wed. Jul. 05 - Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK - O2 City Hall, Newcastle Thu. Jul. 06 - Hull, UK - Asylum, Hull University Union Sat. Jul. 08 - Liverpool, UK - Olympia Sun. Jul. 09 - Edinburgh, UK - Usher Hall Mon. Jul. 10 - Aberdeen, UK - Beach Ballroom Wed. Jul. 12 - Sheffield, UK - O2 Academy Sheffield Thu. Jul. 13 - Oxford, UK - O2 Academy Oxford Fri. Jul. 14 - Birmingham, UK - O2 Academy Birmingham Sat. Jul. 15 - Cardiff, UK - Great Hall, Cardiff University Students’ Union Mon. Jul. 17 - London, UK - The Roundhouse Tue. Jul. 18 - London, UK - The Roundhouse Wed. Jul. 19 - Brighton, UK - Brighton Dome Fri. Jul. 21 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Academy Sat. Jul. 22 - Cambridge, UK - Corn Exchange Fri. Aug. 18 - Trondheim, NO - Marinen Sat. Aug. 26 - Portsmouth, UK - Victorious Festival Fri. Sep. 01 - Lisbon, PT - Parque da Bela Vista Sat. Sep. 02 - Mijas, ES - La Cala de Mijas
Subscribe to the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 8 now to get twelve super-limited 7” vinyl records featuring exclusive music by today’s finest musicians! It’s limited to a mere 835 subscriptions, because it’s volume 8, and 2023 is Sub Pop’s 35th birthday! You’ll get 7”s by Thrash Palace, Gaye Su Akyol, Jessica Winter & Jonathan Snipes, Margarita Podridas, Brontez Purnell, Vanishing Twin, Suki Waterhouse, and more. And, to top it all off, you’ll get a lavish storage box, with art by @oldsweaty, to keep the records together.
You will get two singles in the mail roughly every other month, starting though February 2024. Computer users: fear not! You will also get digital downloads of the tracks through your Sub Pop Mega Mart account. Hear music from the series via the Singles Club playlist, and subscribe here.
Today, CHAI announce their dazzling new, self-titled album out September 22nd on Sub Pop / Sony Music, announce a Fall US tour in support of the new record, and present the album’s lead single, “PARA PARA.” Unlike their acclaimed 2021 album WINK, this self-titled collection of songs finds CHAI returning to their roots, drawing inspiration from their Japanese cultural heritage and the music that raised them. “Everything reflected in the lyrics expresses our experience as Japanese women,” vocalist/keyboardist MANA says, explaining why they chose to self-title this album. CHAI’s ethos is one of inclusion, and the previously shared “We The Female!” — recorded live off the floor to honor the band’s riotous performances — is “energetic and bright” (Stereogum), beckoning all listeners into the mission.
On “PARA PARA,” CHAI memorialize the bafflingly popular two-step dance trend that overtook Japan in the 1990s. “There’s not a deep meaning to that song, it’s really just about the dance,” says Mana. “As long as you can feel the two-step, any dance is possible! Let your body just move to your dancing heart ♡ When your body moves to the beat of your heart, you’ll realize that the world is smaller than you think, and all your problems are easier than they seem. ‘Cause two-step and music is the best way to communicate in this world ♡ Let it START! CHAI’s two-step dance music ☆☆”
The accompanying “PARA PARA”video, directed by Jennifer Juniper Stadford, premieres tonight at 9pm ET and honors the past, present, and future of art-rock and J-pop. Drawing influence from Yellow Magic Orchestra, Talking Heads and Devo, the “PARA PARA” video creates a new, fresh world where CHAI’s neo-kawaii movement takes center stage and inspires a strong future for everyone.
CHAI cast a spell on the world in 2017 when they released their debut album, PINK, a collection of songs that introduced listeners to their singular brand of playful pop. The jubilant and enthusiastically feminist follow-up, PUNK, raked in accolades from the music press and fellow artists alike. That led to WINK, which CHAI made via remote Zoom sessions, a limitation that became a strength since it allowed the quartet — twin sisters MANA (lead vocals and keys) and KANA (guitar), YUNA (drums), and YUUKI (bassist-lyricist) — to collaborate with artists abroad. On WINK, CHAI looked beyond their immediate surroundings, and the confines of home, to create a work that found catharsis in their international community.
Each CHAI album borrows aesthetic inspiration from specific musical movements, and on CHAI, the quartet wanted to make direct comparisons to city pop, a Tokyo-born sound popularized in the ‘70s and ‘80s. City pop was a Japanese take on Western lounge music, borrowing from jazz, boogie, funk, and yacht rock to create a sound that straddled two cultures. Only recently has city pop become a pop culture phenomenon in the U.S. — thanks in part to TikTok and YouTube exhuming songs by artists like Tatsuro Yamashita — but for CHAI, city pop was just the music of childhood.
A nostalgic look backward was, in part, circumstantial. When pandemic restrictions were lifted, CHAI returned to the road, bringing their exuberant live show to new cities, where the experience of performing for enormous crowds in cities like Santiago, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo made them realize they had truly unlocked a global audience. Realizing that their messages applied to people outside of Japan made CHAI consider what other facets of their upbringing might resonate with audiences outside of their home country.
CHAI — unlike previous albums — was written on the road, with the band finding time to record in the days between shows at Stones Throw Studio in LA, Ometusco Sound Machine in Mexico City, and Grand Street in New York. Working in studios with vast collections of gear allowed them to experiment with aesthetics as-yet-unheard on a CHAI album. “It was actually a chill and relaxed process, because we were playing shows every day and were really in the music,” MANA says.
In writing sessions, the members of CHAI listed words immediately associated with Japan, resulting in songs with titles like “MATCHA” and “KARAOKE.” Some terms are less immediate, but no less authentic to the country’s cultural heritage. They tapped previous collaborator Ryu Takahashi to produce, who shared their love of city pop and eurobeat, as well as the melodies of J-pop artists like Maria Takeuchi, which also contributed to the CHAI moodboard. “They wanted to dig into their Japanese identity, not in a traditional sense, but in this filtered Western way,” Takahashi says.
CHAI highlight “GAME” might be the perfect distillation of CHAI’s ethic, though, as it urges listeners to keep moving through this life with joy and passion. Per MANA: “It’s not about winning or losing as competition, but about what you need to do, personally, to feel you’ve won.”
Of the album, Mana says: “This is CHAI! With our self-titled album CHAI, CHAI declare that we live proudly as Japanese women♡ We hope this album gives everyone a little more confidence in living how they want to live. That is our ideal. If this album becomes that existence for anyone, that is the right answer in our eyes⭐ Listen, feel We give you our evolution, inside and out! Now come onnn, NEO-KAWAII BABIES. If you can’t catch up with us, you’ll never feel the NEO KAWAII♡”
CHAI US TOUR DATES
Sat. Sept. 23 - Boise, ID @ Flipside Festival
Sun. Sept. 24 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
Mon. Sept. 25 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Wed. Sept. 27 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Fri. Sept. 29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Today, June 14th, marks the release of Foam, the debut EP from Stockholm-based artist waterbaby, available on all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.
The five-song collection which features the gorgeous new single “Wishing well,” along with the acclaimed standouts “Airforce blue” and “911,” were written by waterbaby and Marcus White, executive produced and mixed by White, and mastered by Johan Åkerström at Cosmos Mastering, all in Stockholm, Sweden.
waterbaby’s hypnotic and evocative technopastoral songs has led to international acclaim, including the cover of Sweden’s music magazine GAFFA, along with the New York Times, The Guardian, NME, Stereogum, The FADER, Brooklyn Vegan, PASTE, The FACE, and CLASH, and major radio support in Sweden from P3 and in the UK from BBC Radio 1.
What people are saying about waterbaby: “The emergency number in Stockholm, the home of the songwriter who calls herself waterbaby, is 112. But in this drowsily understated bedroom-pop song, she clearly has an eye on an American audience: “Call me when you need someone/I could be your 911,” she sings, adding “we-ooh, we-ooh” like a two-note emergency siren. It’s a tentative, guarded offer of affection — “Maybe we could go somewhere/Maybe we could be something” — sung breathily and hesitantly, trying to keep expectations modest.” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Under the gaze of auto-tuned vocals and alt-rock textures, waterbaby has forged something wholly original and swing.” [“911”] - PASTE
“I was a big fan of ‘Airforce blue,’ the indie-pop-ish, R&B-ish Stockholm singer waterbaby’s first single for Sub Pop. I’m an even bigger fan of the next one. “911,” out today, heralds the impending arrival of waterbaby’s Foam EP. It’s a low-key love song built around a cozy little acoustic guitar figure that plays as a nest for waterbaby’s soft, digitally affected vocals.” - STEREOGUM
“The intoxicating meeting point of Beabadoobee, SZA, and Outkast, Stockholm-based Sub-Pop signee Waterbaby has made an impressive introduction as an artist of subtle flourishes, capturing the quiet intensity of love and heartbreak through lead single ‘Airforce Blue’, and now, ‘911’” “45’s of the Week” - THE FORTY-FIVE
“Airforce blue” flips waterbaby’s indie R&B into an electrified, auto-tuned collage with an easy intimacy.” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
“An unguarded DIY R&B moment coming out of the Swedish capital. (“Airforce blue”)” - THE FADER
“‘Airforce blue,’ waterbaby’s first single for Sub Pop, wouldn’t sound out of place on SZA’s genre-jumping S.O.S., but like many SZA songs it doesn’t really scan as R&B. It’s like a more lo-fi, chillwavey cousin to Post Malone’s soft-rocking ‘Circles,’ as if filtered through Clairo’s bedroom indie-pop, with a trace of hyperpop in her Auto-Tuned voice. The result is something slightly uncanny yet tender and personal. Good song.” - STEREOGUM
“Bedroom pop at a cosmic scale: documenting the aftermath of a breakup, the Stockholm artist’s Sub Pop debut has the offbeat and genre-warped charm of Frank Ocean and SZA.” “Playlist” - THE GUARDIAN
“‘Airforce blue’ flips waterbaby’s indie R&B into an electrified, auto-tuned collage with an easy intimacy.” - BROOKLYN VEGAN
”[‘Airforce blue’] is a real jewel, a thrilling and evocative slice of future-facing pop.” “Track of the Day” - CLASH
waterbaby Foam EP
Tracklisting: 1. Airforce blue 2. My luv 3. 911 4. Born too late 5. Wishing well
