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Florida Metal Outfit Wage War Drag You Into the Swamp on Brutal New EP ‘It Calls Me By Name’

Eric Alper
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Florida Metal Outfit Wage War Drag You Into the Swamp on Brutal New EP ‘It Calls Me By Name’

Wage War have always known where they come from, and ‘It Calls Me By Name’ is their most direct declaration of that yet. The new EP is out now via Fearless Records, a 5-track collection rooted in Florida, the swamp, and the relentless aggression of nature, and it’s the heaviest thing the band has released in years.

Lead single “SONG OF THE SWAMP” arrives with an official video, and it sets the tone immediately. Bloodthirsty screams, deadly riffage, and pummeling percussion build a track that rages from start to finish without a moment of compromise. The band frames it plainly: “Driven by Florida and the raw aggression of nature, it’s a heavy track built on tension and hostility.”

The EP as a whole operates with a clear sense of identity. “It Calls Me By Name is about being drawn to your roots. Five tracks shaped by Florida, the swamp, and the relentless aggression of nature. Built heavy, but still driven by the hooks that have defined us. It’s our signature sound amplified and pushed further into metal than we’ve ever taken it.”

That push is audible across all 5 tracks, from the opening assault of “SONG OF THE SWAMP” through “4X4,” “BLINDFOLD,” “KARMA,” and closer “PURIFY.” The EP doesn’t wander or experiment for its own sake. It commits to a sound and a world and stays there with full conviction.

Briton Bond on lead vocals, Cody Quistad on rhythm guitar and clean vocals, Seth Blake on lead guitar, Chris Gaylord on bass, and Stephen Kluesener on drums have built something focused and unrelenting here, a release that knows exactly what it is and delivers it without apology.

‘It Calls Me By Name’ Tracklist:

SONG OF THE SWAMP

4X4

BLINDFOLD

KARMA

PURIFY

Beartooth Sign to Fearless Records and Launch a Bold New Era With Crushing New Single “Free”

Eric Alper
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Beartooth Sign to Fearless Records and Launch a Bold New Era With Crushing New Single “Free”

Beartooth are back, and they’ve arrived with a new label home, a new single, and a statement of intent that leaves no room for ambiguity. “Free,” out now on Fearless Records, is the band’s first new music since 2023, co-written and co-produced by Jordan Fish, and it’s a seismic, crushing track that marks both a turning point and a beginning.

Frontman Caleb Shomo frames it directly. “‘Free’ is the start of the next chapter of my music and my life. The emotional roller coaster that is living can be very complicated at times. In one day you can equally experience pure fear and pure joy. This song shows a glimpse of what is to come from the next Beartooth album, which is the most honest depiction of my soul I will most likely ever make.”

Where past Beartooth records documented survival, “Free” captures a moment of clarity inside the chaos, a subtle but significant shift that points toward whatever comes next. The official video, directed by Meg Gamez, brings the track’s emotional core into sharp visual focus.

The signing to Fearless Records adds another dimension to the announcement. Shomo is enthusiastic about the new partnership. “Fearless has empowered me as an artist like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They all truly love what they do, and it shows in the work. They go about their business with humility and a hunger for joy.” Fearless President Andy Serrao responds in kind, calling “Free” the perfect start to this next chapter.

More than a decade into their career, Beartooth have accumulated over 1.3 billion streams worldwide, 1 RIAA-certified platinum single, 1 gold single, and back-to-back number 1 singles at Active Rock radio. 2023’s ‘The Surface’ debuted at number 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums chart. Forbes called them a band “inching towards a tipping point of becoming the latest arena headliner.” With “Free,” that tipping point has arrived.

Metalcore Heavyweights ERRA Push Into Darker Territory With Punishing New Single “i. the many names of god”

Eric Alper
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Metalcore Heavyweights ERRA Push Into Darker Territory With Punishing New Single “i. the many names of god”

ERRA have never shied away from ambition, and “i. the many names of god” is one of the most deliberately constructed singles they’ve released. Out now via UNFD, the track opens the closing trilogy of their forthcoming album ‘silence outlives the earth’, a 3-part sequence that includes “ii. in the gut of the wolf” and “iii. twilight in the reflection of dreams,” and it marks a distinct tonal shift from everything that precedes it on the record.

The band frames the trilogy’s role with precision. “The trilogy represents a distinct shift in tone from the previous songs on the record. The record transitions to a darker place at this point, and many names serves to take the heaviest moods expressed in the preceding tracks and visceralize them.” That visceralization is immediate and unrelenting, seething with brutal discontent from the first note to the last.

The single follows “further eden,” which Revolver described as “full of synth-glossed melodies and breakbeats, but likewise concrete-smashing breakdowns and tense, effects-explosive guitar riffs.” Together the 2 singles sketch the full emotional and sonic range of ‘silence outlives the earth’, a record that clearly has something serious to say and the musical architecture to say it.

Genre-Bending Internet Icon Oliver Tree Takes Flight on Wild New Single “Flowers”

Eric Alper
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Genre-Bending Internet Icon Oliver Tree Takes Flight on Wild New Single “Flowers”

Oliver Tree has never made anything ordinary, and “Flowers” keeps that streak firmly intact. The new single is out now via Atlantic Records, the latest preview of his highly anticipated fourth studio album ‘Love You Madly, Hate You Badly’, and it arrives with a music video that is exactly as unhinged as his fanbase has come to expect, featuring Tree dancing atop an airplane wing in full pilot uniform before meticulously vacuuming the cabin. Equal parts absurd and artful, the visual captures his unique ability to blur performance, parody, and pure pop spectacle into something that works on every level.

“Flowers” follows “Superhero,” his first single in 2 years, and the genre-blurring “Joyride,” continuing Tree’s fearless push across pop, alternative, and experimental territory without apology. The upcoming album was recorded across 7 continents and 80 countries over the past 2 years, from Africa to China to Afghanistan, resulting in a record that promises to be both genuinely adventurous and deeply personal. For an artist who has built an entire creative universe on his own terms, ‘Love You Madly, Hate You Badly’ looks like his most ambitious statement yet.

British Pop Star Mimi Webb Deepens the ‘Confessions’ Era With New Deluxe Album and Single “Ends In Y”

Eric Alper
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British Pop Star Mimi Webb Deepens the ‘Confessions’ Era With New Deluxe Album and Single “Ends In Y”

Mimi Webb isn’t done with the ‘Confessions’ era, and ‘Confessions: An Unexpected Turn of Events’ makes a compelling case for why it deserved more room to breathe. The deluxe album is out now, anchored by new single “Ends In Y,” a country-inspired track about heartbreak, longing, and the particular exhaustion of missing someone every single day, accompanied by a western-tinged official music video.

The new material traces a clear emotional progression alongside previous single “Eyes Closed,” which explored the push and pull of a rebound relationship. Where “Eyes Closed” reaches for self-protection, “Ends In Y” confronts what remains once the distraction fades, a more vulnerable, more honest reckoning that reflects Webb’s continued growth as a songwriter.

The deluxe edition builds on the original ‘Confessions’ release with new tracks including “Ends In Y,” “Eyes Closed,” and “That Girl,” while revisiting key moments from the album including “Mind Reader” featuring Grammy Award winner Meghan Trainor. Webb’s honest, detail-driven lyricism remains front and center throughout, set against polished pop arrangements that earned widespread praise from Rolling Stone, NPR, Billboard, NME, Clash, and more on the original release.

Beyond the music, Webb has expanded her creative world through a collaboration with Disney and Primark, ‘The Mouse and The Muse: Mimi Webb Collection’, a limited-edition capsule featuring graphic tees, hoodies, and relaxed silhouettes reimagined with iconic Disney imagery, available now online and in Primark stores. Backed by over a billion global streams and a BRIT Award nomination, Webb remains one of contemporary pop’s most compelling voices, and ‘Confessions: An Unexpected Turn of Events’ is the fullest picture yet of what this era has meant.

Dance Music Phenomenon John Summit and Julia Wolf Blur Genre Lines on Haunting New Single “WITH ME”

Eric Alper
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Dance Music Phenomenon John Summit and Julia Wolf Blur Genre Lines on Haunting New Single “WITH ME”

John Summit has never been content staying in one lane, and “WITH ME” is the clearest proof yet of how far he’s willing to push. The new single is out now via Experts Only/Darkroom Records, featuring alt-pop provocateur Julia Wolf, and it trades peak-time euphoria for something darker, more intimate, and emotionally charged, haunted by lingering memories, unresolved desire, and the ache of absence.

The track is the third single from Summit’s forthcoming album ‘CTRL ESCAPE’, due April 15, and it arrives as one of his most sonically adventurous releases to date. Built on layered synths, pulsing low end, and ghostly chopped vocals that blur the line between release and restraint, the production is both seductive and unsettling. Wolf’s raw, emo-tinged delivery pulls the listener under, “you stay up all night, you don’t say what you mean / I drink down my mistakes, I almost feel you with me,” before the track drops into an irresistible bassline.

Summit explains how the collaboration came together. “I’ve been a big fan of Julia’s voice and indie alternative sound for a while so I asked her if she’s ever been on a dance record and she said no. So I invited her to my Miami studio and we merged our sounds to make something I think is truly unique. I really don’t know what genre to call this but whatever it is there’s no rules and that’s what I love about dance music.”

‘CTRL ESCAPE’ pushes further across the electronic spectrum, fusing tech-house with dubstep, drum and bass, and broader influences, functioning as a portrait of Summit’s life right now, the relentless touring, the stadium shows, and the intimate club nights he keeps booking to stay connected to his earliest fans.

A massive summer lies ahead. Summit makes his Ibiza residency debut headlining 9 Mondays at UNVRS, makes his UK summer headline debut at Labyrinth Events’ Tofte Manor, and appears at Tomorrowland before returning to New York in September for the highly anticipated second Experts Only Festival following its sold-out 2025 debut.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

June 1 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 8 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 15 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 22 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 29 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 6 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 11-12 – Bedford, UK, Tofte Manor (Experts Only UK)

July 13 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 19 – Boom, Belgium, Tomorrowland Week 1

July 20 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 19 – Boom, Belgium, Tomorrowland Week 2

July 27 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

August 1 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

August 8 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

September 19-20 – New York, NY, Experts Only Festival NYC

September 26 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

November 20 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Nightclub

Synth Icons GUNSHIP Go Full Metal for John Carpenter’s Zombie Game on “Tell Me When The World Stops Ending”

Eric Alper
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Synth Icons GUNSHIP Go Full Metal for John Carpenter’s Zombie Game on “Tell Me When The World Stops Ending”

GUNSHIP have always lived at the intersection of music and cinema, and “Tell Me When The World Stops Ending” pushes that relationship into genuinely ferocious new territory. The new single is out now, written exclusively for legendary filmmaker John Carpenter’s upcoming zombie-slaying action epic video game Toxic Commando, and it’s the most aggressive thing the band has ever released.

Produced by GUNSHIP and mixed by Grammy-nominated Carl Bown, known for his work with Sleep Token, the track opens with a brooding Carpenter-esque synth line dripping with tension before the unmistakable rack of a pump-action shotgun tears through the silence. From there, the band slam into a punishing, high-velocity riff, with verses grinding in a snarling Nine Inch Nails-style industrial menace before the chorus detonates into a massive anthemic hook. Choir Noir contribute cult-like choral incantations across the track’s ominous breakdowns, and a savage mid-section barrage of chain-gun metal riffs closes the deal.

The partnership with Carpenter is a natural one. GUNSHIP’s creative bond with the horror icon and synth maestro stretches back to his appearances on fan-favourite anthems “Tech Noir” and “Tech Noir 2,” and when the call came to contribute to his video game, the answer was immediate. “When John Carpenter calls… you answer!” The band elaborates: “We grew up utterly obsessed with John’s films and his iconic soundtrack work. His artistry has been a constant source of inspiration and continues to shape the music we create as GUNSHIP.”

Beyond the music, developer Saber Interactive, the studio behind Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and World War Z, invited GUNSHIP to conceive the animated trailer’s concept after revealing they were longtime admirers of the band’s cinematic music videos. The wider Toxic Commando universe also extends into a comic book in association with Dark Horse Comics, a creative alignment that suits a band steeped in graphic-novel culture.

“Tell Me When The World Stops Ending” follows a prolific stretch for GUNSHIP that includes a collaboration and remix with Evanescence, an acclaimed cover of “Mad World” with an Akira-inspired visual, and a feature in Corin Hardy’s horror film “WHISTLE.” The new single cements their place at the crossroads of music, horror, gaming, and cinematic sound more definitively than anything they’ve done before.

Metal-Hip-Hop Fusion Force UnityTX Unleash Their Most Aggressive Single Yet With “STFU”

Eric Alper
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Metal-Hip-Hop Fusion Force UnityTX Unleash Their Most Aggressive Single Yet With “STFU”

UnityTX have never been subtle, and “STFU” is their most direct statement yet. The new single from the metal-hip-hop fusion outfit is out now via Pure Noise Records, the most aggressive release in a run that includes “Body Roc” and “Enjoy Tha Show,” and it arrives as a preview of their sophomore album ‘Somewhere, In Between…’, out now on Pure Noise Records. Listen here.

Frontman Jay Webster, aka SHAOLIN G, is candid about what drove the track. “‘STFU’ is a song that evokes a sense of insignificance in the face of the vastness of the world. Once the haze of success dissipates, you realize how precarious mental stability feels amidst growing pains, increased exposure, and the constant barrage of online opinions about you.”

That tension between ambition and exhaustion runs through the track’s entire architecture. Webster isn’t romanticizing the grind. He’s documenting it with unfiltered honesty. “It often seems easier to cut ties than to immerse myself in a system that will always find fault in every approach.”

‘Somewhere, In Between…’ follows up on the momentum UnityTX built with their debut, and “STFU” makes clear the band hasn’t softened anything in the process. The fury and frustration that define their live show are fully intact on record, with the metal-hip-hop collision they’ve made their own pushing into sharper, more focused territory.

How Harry Styles Became a Modern Rock Star

Eric Alper
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How Harry Styles Became a Modern Rock Star

The easiest version of this story is also the least accurate one. Harry Styles did not become a rock star by accident or by instinct alone. He became one by making a series of deliberate, counterintuitive decisions at every point where the obvious choice would have been to play it safe. That is not how most boy band alumni operate. It is exactly why he is the only one who pulled it off at this scale.

Styles became a member of One Direction in 2010, when the group came together to compete on the British music competition television show The X Factor. What followed was five albums, global hysteria, and the kind of fame that tends to define rather than launch a career. Though all the members of the band — Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan — released solo music, it is Harry Styles whose individual flair has made the biggest impact on the world of popular music and fashion. The gap between them and him, measured in critical respect and commercial longevity, is significant. The question is how it opened up.

The Debut That Set the Terms

Styles introduced his solo sound in 2017 with his self-titled debut, an album that leaned into classic-rock textures and a more focused singer-songwriter presence than many expected. It helped establish the template for his post-hiatus career: cohesive albums, distinctive styling, and a willingness to move outside trend cycles. The album debuted at number one in the UK and the US and was one of the world’s top-ten best-selling albums of the year, while its lead single “Sign of the Times” topped the UK Singles Chart. Nobody expected a former boy band member to open his solo account with something that sounded like it belonged on a classic rock station, and that surprise was itself part of the statement. He was not going to be who anyone assumed he would be.

Fine Line and the Breakthrough

His second solo album, ‘Fine Line’, was released in 2019, and it broke US sales records for a British male singer. The song “Watermelon Sugar” won the Grammy Award for best pop solo performance and the BRIT Award for British single of the year. The throughline of his career becomes clearer when you look at the songs he co-wrote even for One Direction. Even the earliest tracks he had a hand in include key elements of his later songs — a penchant for lyrical repetition creating a folksy call-and-response feeling, vulnerable ballads that are melodically minimalistic. His solo success also stems from his versatility: alongside folksy ballads, he has an ear for rock songs built to fill a stadium.

Harry’s House and the Grammy Moment

‘Harry’s House’ in 2022 was a critical and commercial hit. The track “As It Was” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 15 weeks. It won three Grammys, including album of the year and best pop vocal album. “As It Was” becoming the defining pop song of 2022 was the moment that confirmed something most people already suspected: this was not a phase. Tracks like “As It Was” have racked up over four billion streams on Spotify alone, making it one of the most listened-to songs in history. That kind of number belongs to the conversation about the greatest pop songs of the streaming era, full stop.

What Actually Makes Him a Rock Star

The Grammy statistics and the streaming numbers explain the commercial success. They do not fully explain the phenomenon. What makes Harry Styles a rock star in the truest sense is not what he plays but how he carries himself — the vintage clothes, the gender-fluid fashion that never looks like a statement but always looks completely intentional, the concert atmosphere where the room feels like he has personally invited everyone in it. His concerts are parties — confetti, lights, covers of Prince and Bowie. He chats with fans, gives hugs, makes it personal. Rock stars, at their best, make you feel like the music is for you specifically. Styles has always understood that.

He has completely sold out Love On Tour stretches in stadiums. As a solo artist, Styles has had two UK number one singles with “As It Was” and “Sign of the Times,” giving him the most commercially successful solo career of any member of One Direction. In January 2026 he announced his fourth studio album, titled ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,’ which fits neatly into a catalogue that has demonstrated remarkable staying power across formats and years. He went from ‘The X Factor’ to album of the year at the Grammys in roughly a decade, without ever quite becoming what anyone predicted. That is the rock star move.

Ronald LaPread, Commodores Bassist Who Played on ‘Brick House’ and ‘Three Times a Lady,’ Dies at 75

Eric Alper
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Ronald LaPread, Commodores Bassist Who Played on ‘Brick House’ and ‘Three Times a Lady,’ Dies at 75

Ronald LaPread, the bass guitarist who played on some of the most beloved funk and soul records of the 1970s and 1980s as a founding member of the Commodores, and who spent the last four decades of his life building a quiet second chapter in New Zealand, died in Auckland in May 2026. He was 75. The news was confirmed by his daughter, music producer Soraya LaPread, on social media.

Born September 4, 1950 in Alabama, LaPread joined the Commodores in 1970 and spent sixteen years as the rhythmic anchor of one of Motown’s most successful acts. He played on eleven of the group’s albums and his bass lines are woven into some of the most recognisable recordings of the era — “Brick House,” “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady,” “Sail On,” “Still,” and “Nightshift,” the Grammy-winning tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson that became the group’s final major hit. The Commodores have sold over 70 million albums worldwide, and LaPread’s fingerprints are on a significant portion of that catalogue.

The group’s story began, improbably enough, when a collection of freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama fell into playing together in 1968, won the college’s talent contest, and started working their way up from fraternity parties to opening for the Jackson 5. By the time they signed with Motown in 1972 they were already a tightly rehearsed, musically versatile unit, and LaPread’s bass playing was central to the groove that made them impossible to ignore. The peak years came in the late 1970s alongside Lionel Richie, when the Commodores could move between bone-shaking funk and tearjerking ballads with a fluency that very few acts have ever managed.

LaPread left the group in 1986, and the reason why is one of the more remarkable personal stories in the history of American soul music. He fell in love with a New Zealand woman named Farideh on a flight from Sydney to Auckland, moved to the other side of the world, and stayed for the rest of his life. He became a familiar and genuinely beloved figure in Aotearoa’s music community, describing New Zealand’s music scene in a 2025 interview as diverse, collaborative, and possessed of a relaxed culture that suited him completely. He attended the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards just days before his death.

He never entirely lost touch with his past. In 2011 Lionel Richie invited LaPread and fellow former Commodore Thomas McClary on stage during a sold-out concert at Auckland’s Vector Arena, and he would continue to make appearances alongside the Commodores and Richie whenever they toured New Zealand in subsequent years. Richie once joked affectionately that LaPread was always “practising” for a reunion whenever the band came to town. He reunited with them and Richie at Spark Arena just last year.

He is survived by his wife Farideh, his two sons, and his daughter Soraya.

He played on records that are still on the radio fifty years after they were made, fell in love on an aeroplane, moved to New Zealand, and spent forty years making it home. That is a life lived with real intention.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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