OpenWeb messed with their API without telling us again so sadly, I cannot pull your best comments this week. Let’s still have a comment party though? You might have seen that Stereogum is at Primavera Sound Barcelona, which is headlined by last year’s three main pop girlies Sabrina, Chappell, and Charli. Tom missed his original flight then cut his foot on the Airbnb bed and bled on all the towels, but otherwise we are doing excelente. Wish us luck for Turnstile’s 3 a.m. set.
Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
The prop guys have finished adding giant, chunky lifts to the black dress shoes that I bought for my grandfather’s funeral. A crowd gathers around me as I try them on, and people literally gasp when I stand up. With these lifts on my shoes, I am something like eight feet tall. A crowd of upturned faces hovers around my waist level. I feel like Dorothy in Munchkinland, except I am terrified. I’m supposed to walk in these things? The assistant director tells me to get used to them, to walk around, so that’s what I do. I clomp all over that set, and I feel like an absolute freak, which is the entire idea. I’m here because I’m a freak. A freak is what the White Stripes need.
Just last week Mariah Carey unveiled the 20th anniversary edition of The Emancipation Of Mimi, which had remixes featuring rappers like Jay-Z, Jeezy, Cam’ron, Juelz Santana, and more. Now, the pop veteran is back with “Type Dangerous,” her first new song in years. Produced by Carey alongside N.W.I. and Daniel Moor, it features a prominent sample from Eric B. & Rakim’s classic 1986 debut single “Eric B. Is President.”
It’s been a year since Sabrina Carpenter established herself as a main pop girl with Short N’ Sweet singles like “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” Her over-the-top tour elevated her even more, as did the deluxe version of the album which featured Dolly Parton. Now she’s back with the new song “Manchild.”
Joe Jonas just released his sophomore solo album Music For People Who Believe In Love, and now his brother Nick is gearing up to star as Paul Stanley in the upcoming KISS biopic Shout It Out Loud.
Hello from beautiful Barcelona, where most of your Stereogum staff will spend the next three days embarking upon one of the greatest music festivals in the world. Primavera Sound has once again rounded up an exciting array of extremely Stereogum-friendly artists to perform along the bands of the Mediterranean at Parc del Fòrum.
Last we heard from Purity Ring, they were collaborating with Black Dresses and deluxe-reissuing their classic debut album, Shrines. Today the electro-pop duo is back with their first new tunes since 2022’s graves EP, which was the inaugural release through their own imprint, the fellowship.
Talking Heads formed in New York in 1975, which means the band is turning 50 years old this year. They’re celebrating that anniversary today with the first official music video for “Psycho Killer,” an enduring classic from their 1977 debut album Talking Heads: 77.
Zack James is the core songwriter of Robber Robber, drummer of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and live collaborator/session musician for Greg Freeman, Lutalo, Lily Seabird, and more. He also fronts the Burlington band Dari Bay, and unsurprisingly their new song “The Joke” is awesome.