Latest news with #LaurelCanyon
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
These 4 Under-the-Radar Perfume Brands Smell So Good, I Can't Gatekeep Them Anymore
Lately, I've been deep in my niche perfume girlie era. We're talking indie brands, ultra-unique blends, and scents that feel like personality statements. There's a lot of great perfumers out there making great work, but once in a while, you stumble upon a fragrance that feels completely new... like someone bottled a feeling you didn't know you were chasing. These four small perfume brands have either gone viral for good reason or quietly taken over my bathroom shelf. Either way, they're worth sniffing out. Favorite scent: Laurel Canyon I've been wearing Laurel Canyon for years, and it's one of those scents that always gets a 'Wait, what is that amazing smell?' from friends. Then I get to spill the tea about this rad, female-owned brand. I first fell for Laurel Canyon because of its Italian cannabis and ambergris notes. It smells like walking through LA in 1966 (or at least what I imagine that would feel like, since I haven't mastered time travel just yet). It's warm, intriguing, and quietly iconic. My It-girl scent, hands down. Speaking of It-girls, there's a TikTok rumor that Chappell Roan was hunting for Thin Wild Mercury's Girl of the Year scent after a video went viral. Since then, the brand's been flying off shelves - and for good reason. Favorite scent: Cowboy Kush I was casually killing time in a boutique when I caught a scent that stopped me in my tracks. I didn't know what it was, but I was immediately obsessed. After some subtle detective work (a.k.a. full-on sniffing the air), I found it: Cowboy Kush by Boy Smells. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Boy Smells is known for its genderless, experimental approach to fragrance. Cowboy Kush is rugged but refined, think leather jacket and desert air. It's bold in the best way. People will stop you on the street to ask what you're wearing. Trust me, it's happened. Favorite scent: Strawberry Letter Phlur had a major comeback recently, thanks in part to TikTok's obsession with their scent Missing Person. But for me? Strawberry Letter is the star of the show. It's bold, juicy, and lives in that summer-sunset moment. Not too sweet, not too floral, just perfectly ripe and complex. It's the kind of fragrance that makes people lean in and ask, 'What is that?' I held off buying it for a while (shopping for perfume online is a gamble) but then a friend wore it to lunch and I was sold before the appetizers hit the table. I went home and bought it that night. No regrets. Favorite scent: Berlin This one's for the fragrance nerds. Frau Tonis is a Berlin-based atelier where you can literally build your own scent in-store. Yes, you get to be the perfumer. On my first trip to Berlin a few years ago, I did a workshop—and now it's a ritual. Every time I'm in the city, I swing by to restock. Even if you're not heading to Germany anytime soon, their core collection is available online—and worth every drop. My go-to? Berlin. It's sharp, smart, and just a little bit seductive. Bergamot meets lemon, cedarwood mingles with cardamom—it's structured yet surprising. If Glossier You is for the cool girl next door, Berlin is for her worldly older sister with impeccable taste and an even better passport stamp collection. Sure, Chanel No. 5 had her moment, but these days, I'd rather smell like a main character than my grandmother's powder room. These indie perfumes are bold, modern, and way more fun to wear. You're about to smell amazing because of them.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Miley Cyrus is at her creative peak on pop opera album 'Something Beautiful': Review
Miley Cyrus is at her creative peak on pop opera album 'Something Beautiful': Review Show Caption Hide Caption Miley Cyrus Opens Up About Vocal Condition Behind Her Raspy Voice Miley Cyrus has revealed that she has Reinke's edema, a condition affecting her vocal cords that gives her voice its raspy tone. unbranded - Entertainment A few months after releasing her Grammy-winning 'Endless Summer Vacation' album, Miley Cyrus dropped a surprise song. The wistful 'Used to Be Young' tracked her journey from a naïve-and-charming hellion in her 20s to a insightful-and-charming hellion turning 30. In the two years since, Cyrus has settled into a groove of determination and creativity, evolving into one of the most charismatic singers and intriguing songwriters of her generation. Now, with her ninth studio album 'Something Beautiful' (May 30), she's offering fans a new musical vista where bangers and ballads exist in harmony. Along with the album drop, Cyrus will release a visual film of the same name that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival June 6 and play in movie theaters around the country for one day only on June 12. Cyrus, who often bows in deference to forebears such as Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett, has said the inspiration for her ambitious project was Pink Floyd's 1979 masterpiece, 'The Wall.' If you're going to go the concept album route, might as well study the masters. The 13 tracks on 'Something Beautiful' revolve around customary themes of heartbreak and trauma, but Cyrus, with her distinctive raspy voice set to soar mode, also offers shades of healing and optimism. She sews pop bangers (the infectious 'End of the World') with shimmering ballads (the sax-enhanced 'More to Lose') using buzzy electronic instrumentals to create an art rock/pop opera best listened to in its entirety. Still, we have our favorite songs. Let's unpack the best of Cyrus' 'Something Beautiful': 'Golden Burning Sun' A brash, whirring intro dissolves into a gentle, chugging groove and strummy acoustic guitar that knowingly winks at the Laurel Canyon crew of the early '70s. Cyrus' interest in dichotomous musical styles of dark and light are spotlighted but ultimately, she embraces her dreamy side. 'Surrender … and I'll never let you down,' she promises, her voice going into her girlish higher register that lends the song a dash of sweetness. 'Walk of Fame' From the opening blast of guest Brittany Howard's vocalizing and a whoosh of galloping keyboards, the pulsing dance song vibrates with energy. It's the sound of today colliding with the squishy synthesizers that wallpapered European nightclubs in the '80s. It's also the album's longest song at six minutes, with much of its tail paying homage to a Giorgio Moroder/Donna Summer disco voyage. More: Kenny Chesney delivers vibrant, visually arresting feast at Las Vegas Sphere 'Every Girl You've Ever Loved' Several of the album's tracks feature prominent saxophone – that vestige of '80s anthems – and this song is no exception. It starts with the wailing woodwind before a wall of synthesizers starts ping-ponging and a hypnotic beat (including Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea on bass) settles as the backdrop to defiant lyrics. 'I match my bag to my new dress/I'm still looking like a 10 while my hair is a mess,' she sings not as a lament, but a confident declaration. Supermodel Naomi Campbell features on the song, dipping in and out and adding a stylish spoken word verse repeating 'pose.' 'Give Me Love' Cyrus ends her musical expedition with a sweeping ballad that is a closing statement as well as an atmospheric swirl of sound that will play beautifully with its visual counterpart. Strings, flutes, acoustic guitar and a whisper of sitar color the canvas as Cyrus leans into her apocalyptic mindset, singing, 'So I'll say my goodbyes to the earthly delights/While my perfect Eden goes down in flames/I'm eaten alive by the mouth of a monster/While fearlessly calling out your name.' Even in song, Cyrus will never concede.
Business Wire
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Wire
Aly & AJ Release Transcendent New Album Silver Deliverer
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Silver Deliverer, the highly anticipated independent sixth studio album from platinum-selling sister duo Aly & AJ, is out today. A career-defining body of work, Silver Deliverer blends sun-drenched California rock, country-tinged folk, and warm, analog textures into an honest and deeply personal album that feels like a love letter to growing up, growing older, and growing free. Out just in time for summer and building momentum into the fall, the release also marks the announcement of Aly & AJ's headlining must see North American Silver Deliverer Tour, presented by Concerts West / AEG Presents. The tour launches Friday, September 19 in Los Angeles, concluding in Santa Barbara on Sunday, November 9. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 9 at 10am local time HERE. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Amanda Shires will grace the bill and support across all dates. Arriving after the critical acclaim of their 2023 album With Love From, Silver Deliverer sees Aly & AJ embracing full creative control and crafting their most authentic, self-assured and spiritually resonant record yet. Written and recorded in Topanga Canyon, the album draws from the Laurel Canyon movement while sounding unmistakably fresh and modern. It marks a striking return for the beloved artists: bold, unfiltered, and wholly their own. Brimming with poetic warmth and wisdom that the sister duo has honed over the years, Silver Deliverer reflects on maturing, sisterhood, and self-actualization. 'After 20 years of making music together as sisters we've created our most revealing and poignant album to date. Motherhood, personal loss, and traumatic events have rewoven our tapestry of sisterhood. And we've done our best to write about it. We hope this music is something to reach for when you're lost and looking for some deliverance.' Produced in part by longtime collaborators, including GRAMMY nominated Jonathan Wilson, Silver Deliverer captures Aly & AJ's signature harmonies across a soundscape rich in organic instrumentation and golden-era storytelling. The album features standout singles including the recent 'Dandelions', the haunting 'If You Get Lonely' and 'Next to Nothing, ' which has received acclaim for Aly & AJ's iconic harmonies and makes audiences feel like they are 'living in the song while listening to it'. The shimmering lead single from the album, 'What It Feels Like', has already amassed over one million streams on Spotify and over 200K views of its official music video, solidifying the sisters' ongoing cultural relevance and deepening resonance with fans both old and new. Presales for the dynamic Silver Deliverer Tour tour begin on Tuesday, May 6 at 10am local time, followed by the general on sale on Friday, May 9 at 10am local time. For Los Angeles fans, the presale will be on Friday, May 16 at 10am PT followed by the general on sale on Tuesday, May 20 at 10am PT. Please see all cities, dates, and venues further below. In addition to the forthcoming tour, Aly & AJ have been busy kicking off their new era with a slew of high profile performances and major festival appearances including SXSW, Willie Nelson's Luck Festival, the Sunset Festival and Stagecoach. This is only the beginning as the duo prepares to kick off the album release with performances at Bonnaroo Festival and Milwaukee's Summerfest. ALY & AJ SILVER DELIVERER TOUR DATES September 19 - Los Angeles, CA - Venue Announced Soon September 25 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall September 26 - Seattle, WA - The Paramount Theatre September 27 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre September 30 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory October 1 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Union October 2 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre October 4 - Minneapolis, MN - Skyway Theatre October 5 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre October 7 - St. Louis, MO - The Factory October 8 - Fort Wayne, IN - Clyde Theatre October 10 - Chicago, IL - The Salt Shed October 11 - Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live! October 12 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre October 14 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE October 15 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall October 17 - New York, NY - Terminal 5 October 19 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner October 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall October 22 - Washington, D.C. - The Anthem October 24 - Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium October 25 - Jacksonville, FL - FIVE October 26 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live October 28 - Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheater October 29 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern October 31 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall November 1 - Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre November 2 - Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory November 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre November 5 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts by The Bay - On Sale Now November 8 - San Francisco, CA - The Warfield November 9 - Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre ABOUT ALY & AJ: Aly & AJ, comprised of sisters Aly and AJ Michalka, have captivated audiences around the world with their stirring harmonies, relatable lyrics, and a unique blend of pop and indie-rock influences. From their early days as Disney stars to their triumphant return to the music scene as independent artists, Aly & AJ have evolved into a force to be reckoned with, transcending genres and leaving an indelible mark on the industry. Their previous album With Love From recorded with a live band at the famous Sunset Sound studio, showcased their genre-spanning artistry, incorporating Americana, folk, country and indie pop, featuring an array of reflective ballads and anthemic tracks. Critics have raved over the album, with Billboard claiming the track 'After Hours' 'pour[s] one out for the night owls,' while Rolling Stone highlighted and approved the song 'Baby Lay Your Head Down.' The California native sisters took the album on the road on their nationwide 'With Love From Tour,' which included a milestone performance at Los Angeles' legendary Greek Theatre for the first time for an unforgettable evening of powerhouse vocals, electrifying performances, and a nostalgic celebration of their remarkable discography. Aly & AJ first burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s with their debut album Into the Rush in 2005, featuring the hit single "Rush". Their music resonated with a generation, blending pop sensibilities with their innate ability to craft infectious melodies. Their roles in Disney Channel projects like "Phil of the Future" and "Cow Belles,' catapulted them into the hearts of young audiences worldwide. The release of their second album, Insomniatic, in 2007 showcased their growth as artists, exploring deeper themes and further curating their musical identity. Spawning hits like "Potential Breakup Song" and " Chemicals React," Aly & AJ ignited the soundtracks of our lives and solidified their status as superstars. After a decade-long hiatus, the sisters officially returned to the music scene in 2017 embracing both their roots and newfound maturity, seamlessly transitioning from pop sensations to indie darlings. Their EP " Ten Years" marked a triumphant return to their original sound, featuring the viral hit "Take Me." Their subsequent releases, including the critically acclaimed EP " Sanctuary" in 2019, showcased a powerful blend of synth-pop, dreamy melodies, and introspective lyrics that resonated with fans old and new. As the duo entered the 2020s, their music continued to evolve, delving deeper into themes of love, mental health, and personal growth. Shortly after, they released their first studio album in 14 years, a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun. This album contains tracks like "Listen!!!" and "Slow Dancing," showcased a newfound vulnerability and an unapologetic embrace of their true selves. Billboard included the album on their list of best albums of the first half of 2021. It was also listed on The Guardian's list of the 50 best albums of 2021.
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Lorde Returns With a Nostalgic Breakup Anthem, and 9 More New Songs
Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week's most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here , and sign up for The Amplifier , a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs. In her first solo song in four years, after her boffo duet with Charli XCX, Lorde skips back past the guitar-picking, Laurel Canyon sound of her 2021 album, 'Solar Power,' to the keyboards and pumping electronics of her 2017 'Melodrama.' She sings about coming to terms with a breakup and missing past pleasures with someone — kisses, MDMA, a perfect cigarette — but she might also be speaking to her pop audience: 'Since I was 17, I gave you everything.' She brings tremulous drama to the vocals, but despite the synthetic firepower available to Lorde and her fellow producers — Daniel Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo) and Jim-E Stack (Bon Iver) — the track is oddly muted and rounded-off, even where it could explode. Maybe that choice will make more sense within a full album. Keys left behind, door locked, plane boarded — Danielle Haim sings about a decisive breakup in 'Down to Be Wrong' from Haim's next album, 'I Quit,' due June 20. As the song begins, with a chunky beat and a few guitar notes at a time, perhaps there's a hint of hesitancy in her voice. But as more instruments kick in and the miles of distance increase, her voice gets rougher and her certainty only grows. 'I didn't think it would be so easy till I left it behind,' she realizes, and her sisters' vocal harmonies fully agree. Of course Ariana Grande can sing an old jazz standard. She glides through a song from 1931 (by Fred Ahlert and Russ Turk) that has been recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra and Kate Smith. Grande is one of the guest singers on Jeff Goldblum's album with the vintage-style Mildred Snitzer Orchestra; Goldblum, her 'Wicked' co-star, is on piano, playing a modest, leisurely solo. But the track is hers — a poised, guileless, gently escalating complaint about unrequited affection: 'You never seem to want more romancing / The only time you hold me is when we're dancing.' Understatement, so rare in current country production, burnishes 'The Touch,' a song that promises lasting love. 'As long as we're together, it's more than enough,' Ashley Monroe sings over Marty Stuart's lone acoustic guitar, which is virtually the only accompaniment for the first half of the track. Harmonies blossom and more guitars (and Shelby Lynne on bass) eventually join, but the mood stays pristine. 'Luna' hits a very sweet spot between Afrobeats and reggaeton as Wisin, from Puerto Rico, and Kapo, from Colombia, harmonize on a friendly flirtation: 'Just you and me in this room on a trip to the moon.' The production (by Daramola, a Nigerian musician based in Miami, and Los Legendarios, from Puerto Rico) is an ever-changing matrix of percussion sounds, electronics and vocal harmonies arriving from all directions. It's pure ear candy. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Japanese Breakfast considers the incel with dreamy, suffocating pop
Who is writing songs for incels? It's a thought that struck me as I watched the devastating TV drama Adolescence, thinking about that vast but largely invisible body of lonely young men buying into the conspiratorial misogyny of online hate. Then a song snagged my consciousness by American-Korean singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, who operates as sometime band Japanese Breakfast. Mega Circuit is a shiny California pop rock ballad of youthful ennui and desire. It is sung from the perspective of a young woman watching boys showing off in a car park, shimmering with careless bravado that crumbles up close. 'I'm gonna write my baby a shuffle so good,' Zauner blankly sings, 'or he's gonna make me suffer the way I should.' The singer performs oral sex on her boyfriend and sighs sadly with empathy for 'the soft hearts of young boys so pissed off and jaded.' It is a thorny character study, wrapped in gauzy, melodic dream pop. It seems a very bold choice for a single in an escapist pop environment that tends to avoid the political tensions of our troubled age. The 35-year-old Zauner authored a best-selling 2021 memoir, Crying in H Mart, about the death of her mother. For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is her fourth album. She was Grammy nominated for 2022's Jubilee, a more sonically charged collection, although still underpinned by sadness. Virtuoso Americana guitarist and sometime Bob Dylan collaborator Blake Mills produces, taking Zauner out of her synthy, alt-rock territory into something more California acoustic. It is weirdly damped down, like an impoverished indie cousin of Taylor Swift's Folklore, as if they have taken all the elements of classic Laurel Canyon songcraft and shoved them into a small box with no air. It made me think of Los Angeles after the fire, nursing wounds but carrying on as if nothing has happened. Zauner sings softly and almost inexpressively, and you really have to lean in to pick up the words. It's worth it because her lyrics put her in the top tier of contemporary songwriters. Little Girl is sung from the point of view of a feckless father, drinking in a hotel with a young sex worker, thinking about the daughter who won't speak to him. It takes place adjacent to the same car park where Mega Circuit unfolds, the characters in both songs isolated by failures of perspective. 'Little girl, meant no harm,' sings Zauner's sad old man. Zauner operates in a hinterland familiar to fans of such 1970s greats as Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits and Randy Newman, yet almost entirely absent in the work of her poppier contemporaries. Movie star Jeff Bridges makes a curious guest appearance, duetting on Men In Bars. Practically the personification of laidback LA manhood, there is a compelling mismatch of voices, Bridges's singing high and strained next to Zauner's soft breathiness as they pick over different versions of a breakup story. 'We built this / And even when it breaks apart / It's ours,' they sing. For Melancholy Brunettes is an odd, subtle, suffocating album essaying a complexity and ambiguity you don't often hear in modern pop. Neil McCormick Also out: Greentea Peng, Tell Dem It's Sunny ★★★★☆ South London's Greentea Peng has the potential to be a huge crossover star. Born Aria Wells to Afro-Arabic parents and now aged around 30 (she hasn't cared to reveal her precise date of birth), she makes a pungent, psychedelic form of RnB infused with strong flavours of reggae and trip-hop, backed by a fully instrumented rhythm combo. Multi-pierced and tattooed, a little bit bonkers (think: the UK's answer to Erykah Badu), she's the kind of effortlessly charismatic, zero-damns-given performer who'll slouch onstage late-afternoon at a festival and win everybody's hearts, and whose 'real music' connects with those listeners (okay, then: older folks) who are bewildered by Gen-Z pop's pre-programmed tinniness. On the heels of 2021's debut, Man Made, plus 20-odd singles, EPs and mixtapes, Tell Dem It's Sunny feels like Wells's point of top-flight arrival, crystallising her ideas of spiritual growth and slow-mo beats-driven mysticism into irresistibly relatable songs of transcendence and self-questioning. 'Is it too late for me?' she wonders on third track, One Foot, to an arpeggiating guitar riff reminiscent of Paul Weller's The Changingman. On paean to skin-shedding Green, a descending bassline aptly recalls Tricky's Hell Is Round The Corner. You sense that this young woman, who most refreshingly chooses not to share her every life drama on social media, has considerable demons to purge, but by the key track in the album's latter stages, I AM (Reborn), she has conquered them and she's re-entering the bear pit of contemporary youth culture with her guard up: 'I am not who I was yesterday,' she defiantly reasons, 'so how can you know me?' On the strength of Tell Dem It's Sunny's liltingly exploratory grooves, a world-wide audience will surely start getting acquainted with this maverick icon-in-waiting. Andrew Perry Best New Songs By Poppie Platt The Horrors, The Silence That Remains The standout track for me from the Essex psych-rocker's excellent new album Night Life, which is out today. Characteristically dark, Gothic and brimming with influences from the worlds of shoegaze, psych and Krautrock, it's a solid return to form, elevated both by Faris Badwan's snarling vocals and a menacing bass. Role Model, Sally, When the Wine Runs Out The US indie-pop singer has become TikTok's go-to artist for catchy earworm hooks, and this latest offering continues his knack for penning a killer bridge, as he sings of a lover destined to break his heart: 'Aw, s–t, here we go again / I'm falling headfirst'. We've all been there. Yungblud, Hello Heaven, Hello Don McClean, who? If you thought American Pie was long, listen to Doncaster punk-rocker Yungblud's new track, which clocks in at over nine minutes. It's a shape-shifting, ferocious anthem about getting through the other side of a dark spell, as the 27-year-old vulnerably reflects 'There's a chance I won't see you tomorrow / So I will spend today saying hello'.
