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Rosalía Drops Desert-Filmed Video for “Sauvignon Blanc” From Landmark Album ‘LUX’

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Rosalía’s ‘LUX’ arrived as one of the most ambitious pop albums in recent memory, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daníel Bjarnason, and the new video for “Sauvignon Blanc” captures exactly what makes the record worth that level of attention. Directed by Noah Dillon, who also shot the album cover, the visual is stripped back and spare, a quiet love story played out against a desert backdrop with an invisible partner.

The song itself sits at the center of ‘LUX’s emotional architecture. Rosalía describes it as exploring the release of material things in favor of deeper connection, where emotional and spiritual intimacy become the currency. The visual mirrors that thesis without overselling it. Dillon keeps the frame open and the performance unguarded.

Rolling Stone called ‘LUX’ “her most astonishing offer yet.” Pitchfork described it as “a heartfelt offering of avant-garde classical pop that roars through genre, romance, and religion.” AP News put it plainly: “If there is a single avant-garde saving grace in the pop music landscape, it’s here.” The album opened at No. 1 on Spotify’s Global Top Albums Chart, the biggest streaming debut ever for a female Spanish-language artist on the platform, and the strongest commercial debut of Rosalía’s career.

‘LUX’ features collaborators including Björk, Carminho, Estrella Morente, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Yahritza, Yves Tumor, and the Escolania de Montserrat i Cor Cambra Palau de la Música Catalana. The scale of the project reflects a songwriter who knows what she’s capable of and built the album to match it.

The LUX TOUR 2026 launched in March and is currently running across Europe, North America, and South America. Rosalía is also set to appear in the upcoming third season of Euphoria, her acting debut, and recently appeared as cover star for Vogue U.S.’s Spring 2026 issue.

This is an artist operating at the absolute top of her field across every dimension simultaneously.

Italian Folk Metal Nine-Piece Aexylium Unveil First Italian-Language Track “Eclissi” From ‘Myth of Mankind’

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Aexylium have released a lyric video for “Eclissi,” a track from their 2025 album ‘Myth of Mankind’ on Rockshots Records, and the choice of song is deliberate. It’s the first track in the band’s career written entirely in Italian, a decision that shifts something fundamental in how the music lands.

“Writing in Italian allowed the lyrics to flow more naturally,” the band explains, “strengthening the emotional connection between words and music while the choirs make it especially powerful during live performances.” The result is one of the most distinctive tracks on the album, layered choirs, wide melodic lines, and an orchestral framework that gives the song genuine scale without crowding it.

‘Myth of Mankind’ represents the Italian nine-piece’s most developed work to date. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Davide Tavecchia at Twilight Studio, with cover artwork by Gustavo Sazes (Arch Enemy, Machine Head, Amaranthe), the album addresses introspective and abstract themes while staying rooted in Aexylium’s core fusion of modern metal and traditional folk instrumentation. Violin, flute, and keyboards sit alongside guitar, bass, and drums without either side of the equation overwhelming the other.

Formed in Italy in 2014, Aexylium have built their reputation across European festivals including Dong Open Air, Tanzt!, and Montelago Celtic Festival, sharing stages with Blind Guardian, Elvenking, Wind Rose, and TYR. Their debut ‘Tales From This Land’ arrived in 2018 through Underground Symphony Records, followed by ‘The Fifth Season’ in 2021 on Rockshots Records. ‘Myth of Mankind’ is the third chapter and the clearest statement yet of what the band is capable of across eleven tracks.

‘Myth of Mankind’ is out now on Rockshots Records digitally and on CD.

‘Myth of Mankind’ Track Listing:

  1. Fontes et Omnia
  1. The Queen
  1. Hexe
  1. Into Oblivion
  1. In Sorrow
  1. Myth of Mankind
  1. Eclissi
  1. Wild Hunt
  1. Surrender
  1. Northern Lights
  1. Eternity

Thrice Share Audiotree Session From ‘Horizons/West’ With Big Shows Ahead

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Thrice have released their Audiotree From Nothing session, four performances drawn from ‘Horizons/West’ that capture exactly what makes this band worth two decades of attention. “Vesper Light,” “Albatross,” “Holding On,” and “Gnash” each get the full treatment, the kind of live documentation that rewards both longtime listeners and anyone arriving late to the catalog.

‘Horizons/West,’ released in October, is the companion record to 2021’s ‘Horizons/East.’ Frontman Dustin Kensrue describes it as a “direct continuation,” though it stands entirely on its own terms. Eleven tracks moving through personal identity, spiritual reckoning, and the friction of existing inside a technology-saturated world, built on post-rock textures and cinematic production with clear nods to the band’s earlier work.

The Audiotree session is a precise document of where Thrice sit right now, a band that has been mastering the balance between delicacy and force for over twenty years without ever settling into a formula. The four performances here reflect a group that earns every emotional moment they reach for.

The live schedule from here runs through the end of the year with serious intent. Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio arrives May 17. June brings three dates supporting Jimmy Eat World in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. The year closes with a Halloween night supporting My Chemical Romance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

‘Horizons/West’ is out now. The Audiotree From Nothing session is streaming now.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

17 May — Columbus, OH — Sonic Temple Festival

17 Jun — New York, NY — The Rooftop at Pier 17 (w/ Jimmy Eat World)

19 Jun — Philadelphia, PA — Highmark Skyline Stage at Mann (w/ Jimmy Eat World)

20 Jun — Boston, MA — MGM Music Hall at Fenway (w/ Jimmy Eat World)

31 Oct — Los Angeles, CA — The Hollywood Bowl (w/ My Chemical Romance)

Manchester Metallic Hardcore Rising Force Guilt Trip Drop Surprise EP ‘God Forgives’ on Roadrunner Records

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Guilt Trip didn’t announce the ‘God Forgives’ EP. They just dropped it. Three tracks of gritty, groove-driven metallic hardcore from one of Manchester’s most urgent heavy bands, out now on Roadrunner Records, and the response from the moment it landed has been exactly what the band earned.

The EP includes “Dirt,” which premiered on Daniel P Carter’s BBC Radio 1 Rock show, and “Angel Eyes,” which premiered via SiriusXM Liquid Metal, alongside a new mix of previously released track “Burn.” Both new songs arrive with a two-part music video that functions as a single event, the kind of visual that treats the songs as a connected piece rather than two separate promotions.

“God Forgives is a culmination of progress and the embodiment of Guilt Trip’s identity,” says vocalist Jay Valentine. “The songs were written with one thing in mind: ‘Make it better’ and we hope we have hit the mark for every Guilt Trip fan out there.”

The EP is also a preview of the band’s forthcoming debut LP for Roadrunner Records, recorded at StudioOWZ in Clarbeston, Wales with producer Adam “Nolly” Getgood (Periphery) in early 2025. Guilt Trip have been building toward this record the hard way, grinding from sweaty basements to club stages to festival mainstages across a decade of consistent work.

The five-piece, Jay Valentine and Jak Maden on the creative axis since they met at four years old, have accumulated tens of millions of streams, earned KERRANG! praise for their “unique brand of hardcore,” and shared stages with Sylosis and While She Sleeps. Their 2023 album ‘Severance’ featured collaborations with LANDMVRKS and Malevolence and marked a clear turning point in both sound and reach.

The live schedule through summer includes Slam Dunk Festival across two dates in May, Grasspop Metal Meeting in Belgium in June, V and B Fest in France in August, and two US festival appearances in July at Rock Fest and Inkcarceration.

‘God Forgives’ is out now on Roadrunner Records.

EP Track Listing:

  1. Dirt
  1. Angel Eyes
  1. Burn

Upcoming Tour Dates:

23 May — Slam Dunk — Hatfield, ENG

24 May — Slam Dunk — Leeds, ENG

19 Jun — Grasspop Metal Meeting — Dessel, BEL

16 Jul — Rock Fest — Cadott, WI

18 Jul — Inkcarceration — Mansfield, OH

21 Aug — V and B Fest — Chateau Gontier Sur Mayenne, FRA

London Industrial-Goth Duo Saint Agnes Unleash Scathing New Single “Good Boy” Ahead of May 29 Album

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Saint Agnes have never been interested in subtlety, and “Good Boy” makes that clear in the first ten seconds. The London industrial-goth duo’s third single from their forthcoming album ‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’ arrives with a video and a mission statement that leaves nothing open to interpretation.

Frontperson Kitty A. Austen describes the track as “a scathing critique of obedient, subservient men who uphold the capitalist death cult, feed the machine, and call it a virtue.” The target is specific, the delivery is controlled, and the snarl is genuine. This is a band that means what it writes.

‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’ arrives May 29, mixed by Jim Pinder, whose credits include Sleep Token and Bring Me The Horizon. Austen describes it as “our best sounding record to date, and the truest to our vision.” The album fuses raw industrial power, dark elegance, and body-moving intensity, drawing influence from Nine Inch Nails, Poppy, and Lorde while landing in a sound that belongs entirely to Saint Agnes.

The creative core of Saint Agnes is Austen on vocals and guitar alongside co-founding member Jon James Tufnell on vocals, guitar, synths, and programming. Both are self-described control freaks who obsessively curate every element of their art. The decision to bring in Pinder for mixing represents a rare and deliberate external collaboration.

Over 12 million Spotify streams, strong BBC Radio 1 support, and mainstage appearances at Download, Hellfest, and 2000trees back the band’s trajectory. Sold-out UK headline shows have consistently demonstrated what Saint Agnes do with a room full of people and nothing held back.

‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’ is out May 29.

Track Listing:

  1. Good Boy
  2. The Ghost
  3. The Father, The Son and The Holy Beast
  4. The Beast
  5. Song For Mia
  6. Everything You Denied
  7. The Blood Beat (Angel in the Marble)
  8. Gods of War
  9. Get Them Out
  10. Where Do I Begin?

Progressive Death Metal Innovators Obscura Launch Global ‘A Sonication World Tour’ With New “Stardust” Video

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Obscura are deep into one of the most ambitious touring cycles of their career. The German progressive death metal quartet released ‘A Sonication’ on Nuclear Blast Records in February 2025 to critical acclaim, and the A Sonication World Tour 2026 is now carrying that record across Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and European festivals through the rest of the year.

The new “Stardust” video, directed by longtime collaborator Mirko Witzki, serves as a cinematic companion to the tour. The track represents a different dimension of ‘A Sonication,’ one the band is deliberate about flagging. “Stardust reveals a more melodic, fragile, and atmospheric side of the record,” says mastermind Steffen Kummerer. “Join us on the road across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia as part of the A Sonication World Tour (2025-2028).”

The Asia leg is underway now, running with support from DVRK across Southeast Asia, China, and Central Asia through June 1, with Japanese dates featuring Fallujah joining the lineup. The run covers Bangkok, Jakarta, Taipei, Singapore, Hanoi, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai, and beyond, closing in Tbilisi on June 1.

European festival appearances include Hellfest on June 20, Frantic Fest on August 15, and Brezovska Metalova on August 29. Each slot puts Obscura in front of a different corner of the European heavy music audience.

September brings the Shred Fest run through Australia and New Zealand alongside Fallujah, Ashen, and Anoxia, covering Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Hobart across eleven dates.

Obscura build their technical death metal around genuine compositional ambition, with a sound that draws comparisons while remaining distinctly their own. The world tour format suits a band operating at this level of scope and precision.

Tickets at realmofobscura.com/live/

Asia Tour (remaining dates, w/ DVRK, Japan dates w/ Fallujah):

5 May — Taipei

6 May — Singapore

8 May — Hanoi

9 May — Chengdu

10 May — Beijing

11 May — Guangzhou

12 May — Shenzhen

13 May — Shanghai

15 May — Ulaanbaatar

17 May — Seoul

20 May — Tokyo (w/ Fallujah)

21 May — Tokyo (w/ Fallujah)

22 May — Nagoya (w/ Fallujah)

23 May — Osaka (w/ Fallujah)

24 May — Hiroshima

28 May — Mumbai

29 May — Bangalore

30 May — Dubai

31 May — Yerevan

1 Jun — Tbilisi

Festivals:

20 Jun — Hellfest

15 Aug — Frantic Fest

29 Aug — Brezovska Metalova

Shred Fest — Australia & New Zealand (w/ Fallujah, Ashen, Anoxia):

3 Sep — Perth

4 Sep — Adelaide

5 Sep — Brisbane

9 Sep — Canberra

10 Sep — Sydney

11 Sep — Melbourne

13 Sep — Darwin

15 Sep — Auckland

16 Sep — Wellington

17 Sep — Christchurch

19 Sep — Hobart

Swedish Metal Force Orbit Culture Head to European Festivals and a Massive Fall Arena Tour With Amon Amarth

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Orbit Culture wrapped a massive North American run and now have their sights set on European festival season and one of the biggest arena tours of their career. The Swedish metal quartet from Eksjö have been building steadily toward this moment, and the schedule ahead reflects exactly how far they’ve come.

The band recently released a live video for “The Storm,” filmed during their European headline tour by Riivata Visuals and Grimvisions. The footage captures a night in Gothenburg, close to where the band comes from. “Watching it now brings us back to a night that carried real weight, intense, focused, and honest,” the band says. “It was a defining moment for us, and ‘The Storm’ reflects that feeling without needing to explain it.”

“The Storm” comes from ‘Death Above Life,’ the band’s acclaimed album released last October to overwhelmingly positive response from fans and press. Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Niklas Karlsson describes the record plainly: “It brings up a lot of good and bad emotions but it’s a big change for the better. It feels like a rebirth.”

The summer festival circuit includes Leyendras Del Rock in Spain, Reload Festival, Wacken Open Air, and Summer Breeze in Germany, Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Romania, Alcatraz in Belgium, and Bloodstock in the UK. It’s a festival run that covers the full breadth of European heavy music, and Orbit Culture have earned every slot on it.

The fall brings The Allfather Awakens Tour, a co-headline European arena run alongside Amon Amarth and Soilwork spanning 30 dates across the UK, Europe, and Scandinavia. The run opens October 9 in Manchester at the O2 Apollo and closes November 15 in Lisbon. Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Hovet in Stockholm, and the Velodrom in Berlin are among the marquee stops.

Orbit Culture blend thrash, death metal, and industrial riffing with melodic hooks and a layered atmospheric approach that draws comparisons to Gojira, Metallica, and Static-X while remaining distinctly their own. The arena stage is the natural next setting.

European Summer Festivals:

Leyendras Del Rock — Spain

Reload Festival — Germany

Rockstadt Extreme Fest — Romania

Alcatraz — Belgium

Bloodstock — UK

Wacken Open Air — Germany

Summer Breeze — Germany

The Allfather Awakens Tour (w/ Amon Amarth + Soilwork):

9 Oct — Manchester, England — O2 Apollo

10 Oct — London, England — Eventim Apollo

11 Oct — Wolverhampton, England — Civic Hall

13 Oct — Paris, France — Zenith

14 Oct — Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg — Rockhal

16 Oct — Stuttgart, Germany — Schleyer-Halle

17 Oct — Frankfurt, Germany — Festhalle

18 Oct — Antwerp, Belgium — Lotto Hall

20 Oct — Den Bosch, Netherlands — Mainstage

21 Oct — Hamburg, Germany — Sporthalle

23 Oct — Gothenburg, Sweden — Scandinavium

24 Oct — Stockholm, Sweden — Hovet

26 Oct — Helsinki, Finland — Ice Hall

27 Oct — Tallinn, Estonia — Unibet Arena

29 Oct — Gliwice, Poland — PreZero Arena Gliwice

30 Oct — Leipzig, Germany — Quarterback Immobilien Arena

31 Oct — Oberhausen, Germany — Rudolf Weber Arena

2 Nov — Budapest, Hungary — Barba Negra

3 Nov — Vienna, Austria — Gasometer

4 Nov — Bamberg, Germany — Brose Arena

6 Nov — Prague, Czech Republic — O2 Universum

7 Nov — Berlin, Germany — Velodrom

8 Nov — Munich, Germany — Zenith

10 Nov — Milan, Italy — Alcatraz

11 Nov — Zurich, Switzerland — The Hall

13 Nov — Barcelona, Spain — Sant Jordi Club

14 Nov — Madrid, Spain — Vistalegre

15 Nov — Lisbon, Portugal — Sala Tejo

Melissa Etheridge Returns With 17th Studio Album ‘Rise’ Featuring Chris Stapleton

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Melissa Etheridge’s 17th studio album ‘Rise’ is out now, her first since 2021’s ‘One Way Out’ and one of the most fully realized records of her career. Recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles and produced by Shooter Jennings, the 11-track album moves through rock, Americana, and deeply personal storytelling with the authority of someone who’s been doing this for four decades and still has something to prove.

The album opens with “Bein’ Alive,” featuring Jennings, its music video filmed at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles and directed by Etheridge’s wife Linda Wallem. It’s a strong opening statement, the kind of track that establishes tone and doesn’t waste the listener’s time getting there.

The centerpiece of ‘Rise’ is “The Other Side of Blue,” a collaboration with Chris Stapleton. Two artists with distinct voices and shared instincts for emotionally honest songwriting, the pairing earns its place as one of the album’s defining moments.

“Matches” draws a direct line to Etheridge’s origin story, referencing Johnny Cash’s 1970 performance at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth as the moment that first sparked her interest in music. It’s a song that understands where it comes from and builds outward from there.

Etheridge is currently on The Edge Tour in support of the album, with remaining dates running through mid-May across Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina. The tour continues the momentum of an album that arrived with real creative force behind it.

‘Rise’ is out now on all platforms.

The Edge Tour, Remaining Dates:

5 May — Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall, PA

6 May — Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY

8 May — Hershey Theatre, Hershey, PA

9 May — Weldon Mills Theatre, Roanoke Rapids, NC

‘Rise’ Track Listing:

  1. Bein’ Alive
  2. Matches
  3. Rise
  4. Don’t You Want A Woman
  5. Other Side Of Blue
  6. If You Ever Leave Me
  7. Davina
  8. To Be A Woman
  9. Tomboy
  10. Call You
  11. More Love

Grammy-Nominated Fleetwood Mac Guitarist Rick Vito Delivers All-Instrumental Slide Guitar Album ‘Slidemaster’

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Rick Vito has been asked the same question for years. When are you putting out an all-instrumental album? ‘Slidemaster,’ out now on MoMojo Records, is the answer, twelve tracks played exclusively on slide guitar from one of the most distinctive bottleneck players in blues and rock.

The album pairs new material with remixed and remastered cuts from previous releases, assembled into a cohesive collection that covers a lot of ground. Peter Green’s “Albatross” and “The Supernatural” appear alongside Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and originals including “Vegas Jump” and “Soul Shadows.” Every track is instrumental, every track is slide, and the range across the twelve cuts reflects a guitarist with genuine depth across styles.

“To my knowledge there have not been many slide guitar instrumental albums,” Vito says. “These new works are paired with some of my very favorite cuts from previous albums resulting in a soulful collection of all-instrumental slide guitar tracks. This album comes from years of recording in a style that I hope you will love as much as I do.”

Vito’s previous album ‘Cadillac Man’ in 2024 reached No. 1 on the Roots Radio Report and drew rave reviews across the blues press. Living Blues described his playing as “wraithlike,” noting he “never wastes a note.” Rock and Blues Muse called him “one of the best guitarists in the genre, and a premiere slide guitarist with few peers.” ‘Slidemaster’ is the natural extension of that momentum, stripping everything back to the instrument itself.

The resume behind this record is substantial. Vito was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1991, with guitar work featured on ‘Greatest Hits,’ ‘Behind The Mask,’ and the live DVD ‘Tango In The Night.’ He later formed the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band featuring Rick Vito, earning a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues as both artist and producer. His slide solo on Bob Seger’s “Like A Rock” has been heard by millions, both on album and across a decade of Chevy truck commercials.

His session and touring credits run deep, including Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty, Jackson Browne, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, Roger McGuinn, John Mayall, Leon Russell, Boz Scaggs, and dozens more. He’s also the recipient of the Blues Music Award for Song of the Year for Shemekia Copeland’s “It’s Two A.M.” His Reverend Guitars signature model, the Rick Vito Soul Agent, is currently in its fourth edition.

‘Slidemaster’ is out now on MoMojo Records.

‘Slidemaster’ Track Listing:

  1. Vegas Jump
  2. Steel Away
  3. The Big Beat
  4. The Danger Zone
  5. Ted Hot Baby
  6. Albatross
  7. Soul Shadows
  8. Slide The Blues
  9. A Change Is Gonna Come
  10. River of Blues
  11. The Supernatural
  12. The Lord’s Prayer

San Francisco Ameri-Cali Rock Sextet Wreckless Strangers Unleash Raw New EP ‘Dirty Souls’

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Wreckless Strangers have been carrying the torch for San Francisco’s rock and soul tradition for years, and ‘Dirty Souls’ is their most direct statement yet. The EP is out now, produced by GRAMMY Award-winning producer Dave Way with engineer Sean Beresford, and built around the six-piece’s signature blend of Americana, soul, R&B, and classic rock.

The title track “Dirty Soul” leads the project and arrives with a full visual companion, the band’s seventh collaboration with director Jason Lee Denton. Written by Amber Morris, Joshua Zucker, and the late Austin de Lone, the song draws its emotional weight from exactly where Morris describes it: “Patience, acceptance, and loving fiercely without losing yourself. The video allowed us to explore those themes visually and sit with the messiness of that kind of love in a very honest way.”

The EP’s second single “The Runaround,” written by lead vocalist David Noble, is also out now, as is the third EP single released in late March. Taken together, the three releases map out a band operating with real creative range, raw where it needs to be, melodic where it earns it.

Wreckless Strangers draw from a deep well of Bay Area influence. Their sound pulls from Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Sons of Champlin, Fleetwood Mac, Sly Stone, Tower of Power, and the Grateful Dead, filtered through soaring vocal harmonies and instrumental improvisation kept tight by concise songwriting. It’s a lot of ground to cover and they cover it naturally.

The band features Amber Morris on lead vocals, David Noble on lead guitar and vocals, Joshua Zucker on bass and vocals, Mick Hellman on drums and vocals, Rob Anderson on guitar and vocals, and Fletcher Nielsen on keys. They were recently invited to perform live on Nashville’s Americana Roots radio station WMOT and played NAMM in Southern California earlier this year.