More than three years ago, back before Mr. Morale even, we learned that Kendrick Lamar was making a movie with the South Park guys. The superstar rapper’s film with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, we were told, is based on a script by Vernon Chatman — which Paramount Pictures film chief Brian Robbins has since called “one of the funniest and most original scripts we’ve ever read.” We also learned that the movie “will depict the past and present coming to a head when a young black man who is interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.”

The Ophelias’ “Cumulonimbus” and “Salome” were riveting previews of their fourth album Spring Grove, which is the first record produced by Julien Baker. Today, the indie rock band is back with another taste with the dreamy “Cicada.”

Lily Seabird’s new album Trash Mountain arrives on Friday, and the singles — “Trash Mountain (1pm),” “How Far Away,” and “It Was Like You Were Coming To Wake Us Back Up” — have all served as poignant previews. Today, the Burlington-based singer-songwriter is unveiling the enchanting “Arrow.”

This Friday, Miki Berenyi Trio release their debut album Tripla. So far the band fronted by the former Lush leader has shared the singles “Vertigo,” “8th Deadly Sin,” and “Big I Am,” and today they’re offering one last taste with the jangly “Kinch.”

Nashville’s Lockstep formed in 2021 and put out the haunting, grungy EPs Lockstep 1 and Hunger. Today the band is sharing the dark new tune “Drag Along.”

Brand New have slowly been launching their return. In 2017 Jesse Lacey faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and issued a statement. The Long Island emo band quietly played one small show last year and three larger ones last week, and now they’ve announced a full tour. The venues — which include arenas and amphitheaters — have all disabled the comments on their announcement posts.

Mike Hadreas has just started his run of live shows supporting his latest Perfume Genius album Glory. Last Thursday, the eve of the record’s release, he debuted a bunch of Glory songs at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts including “It’s A Mirror,” “Clean Heart,” and his Aldous Harding duet “No Front Teeth.”

Last year was the 20th anniversary of Zach Braff’s directorial debut Garden State and its soundtrack, an album that now feels like a Greatest Hits compilation of 2000s “indie.” A bunch of the artists featured on that soundtrack convened for a big benefit show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles Saturday night, an event that marked Remy Zero’s first performance since 2010 and Frou Frou’s first since 2019.

A few weeks after winning the Best Actress Oscar for her starring role in Anora, Mikey Madison hosted SNL this weekend. She got to appear in the cold open about Signalgate and dress up as Squidward in a Please Don’t Destroy video, but the part of the show going viral is its last two minutes.

Selena Gomez might not be your favorite pop star’s favorite pop star, but she’s probably got a track or two on their favorite playlist. She began her career as an actress on Disney’s Wizards Of Waverly Place, but despite sustaining a decades-long musical career with many Top 10 hits, she’s never quite escaped her former-Disney-kid image. She is quietly a billionaire, largely because of non-musical ventures such as her Rare Beauty makeup line and various luxury endorsements. She continues to be an actress, on notably outre projects, like the Oscar-nominated (albeit rapidly self-discrediting) film Emilia Pérez, and the Emmy-nominated true-crime series Only Murders In The Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short. This goes back to 2013, where Gomez damned her Disney past by starring in A24 and Harmony Korine’s sleazefest Spring Breakers (though she hedged her rep a little by having her character dip out before the real debauchery begins). But there, too, her past precedes her; last year Gomez told The Hollywood Reporter that she frequently sends casting directors anonymous tapes or has her agents withhold her name until she showed up to the audition, so they wouldn’t automatically reject her as Disney fluff.