Following the release of their hauntingly cinematic debut album Crossing the Bar, Charles James & The Rise return with their latest single, “About a Cow”, arriving October 21st.
The band’s growing acclaim has seen them perform live on RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday with Miriam, support Gavin James on his Goldrush album launch tour, and take home Music Video of the Year at the 2025 Disappear Here Film Festival for their single Sailor and the Saint.
A standout track from Crossing the Bar, About a Cow is a striking meditation on greed and consumption, told through an unexpected narrator, a cow. “It’s a song that’s had a number of lives and has been with me for a long time,” says Charles James O’Donnell, the band’s frontman and songwriter. “As abstract the notion may seem, the lyrics hit on the sacrifice that’s made in all forms to service greed and the longer term impacts this has”
Set against the band’s trademark blend of cinematic folk and lyrical introspection, About a Cow unfolds like a dark pastoral fable, anchored by Charles’s emotive vocals, Catherine O’Donnell’s plaintive piano, and spectral strings from legendary Waterboys fiddler Steve Wickham and cellist Laura McFadden.
Released September 12th, 2025, Crossing the Bar is the debut full-length from Charles James & The Rise, a widescreen folk odyssey through grief, memory and the tides of loss. Inspired by Alfred Lord Tennyson’s elegiac poem of the same name, the album transforms themes of death and departure into songs of solace and renewal.
Featuring lush instrumentation, cinematic production, and stirring performances, the record has been praised for its emotional honesty and musical depth.
Alternative-rock force Staytus channels pure industrial-grunge adrenaline on her new single “Kiss N Tell.” Dark, seductive, and cinematic, the track dives deep into obsession and temptation through thunderous drums, distorted guitars, and haunting vocals — a perfect storm arriving just in time for Halloween. It’s fury and beauty colliding in three and a half minutes of chaos and confession.
Produced by Grammy-winning hitmaker Mikal Blue (OneRepublic, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat), “Kiss N Tell” finds Staytus backed by an all-star lineup — Jeff Friedl (A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, DEVO) on drums and Anthony Laurie of Thredge on guitar. Together, they create a sound that feels both mechanical and human, fusing industrial pulse with grunge emotion. “It’s about temptation and consequence,” says Staytus. “The things we hide, the lies we tell ourselves, and the chaos that comes from wanting too much.”
The visual world of “Kiss N Tell” draws from The Silence of the Lambs, with Staytus embodying secrecy and metamorphosis — a gothic butterfly across her lips. The single follows “68 Kill,” continuing her rise as one of industrial music’s most daring new voices. Staytus doesn’t just perform songs — she builds cinematic worlds where danger, beauty, and truth all share the same stage.
Vancouver alt-country artist Elliot C. Way returns with “Fool’s Gold,” a gritty, soulful anthem that blends ’70s swagger with outlaw honesty. Nearly three years after his acclaimed debut All I Know, Way delivers a song that hits like a shot of bourbon — smooth, raw, and burning with truth. Once a fan favorite from his former band The Wild North, “Fool’s Gold” now shines brighter than ever, reimagined through Way’s signature modern outlaw sound.
Recorded with original Wild North members — many now playing with City & Colour — and produced by longtime friend Erik P.H. Nielsen, “Fool’s Gold” captures the spirit of survival and persistence that defines Way’s journey. The track was cut at a former CBC studio in Vancouver, its walls echoing with the ghosts of past sessions and the pulse of a new era in Canadian roots music. When Way sings, “I’ve been on this mountain since I was 20 years old,” it feels less like nostalgia and more like gospel for the restless heart.
Through his North Country Collective label, co-founded with Nick Lawton and Bob Sumner, Way continues to carve his own road — one paved with timeless storytelling, backroad grit, and late-night anthems built for howling at the moon. “Fool’s Gold” isn’t just a song; it’s a statement. This is country music that lives, sweats, and breathes — the kind Waylon might have called the real thing.
Country-pop trio Just Jayne turn up the heat with their euphoric new single and video “Climate Change.” Featured on the official soundtrack to Netflix’s Emmy-nominated rom-com Nobody Wants This, the track joins a powerhouse lineup that includes Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, and Ella Langley. It’s a bright, head-over-heels anthem that feels tailor-made for summer love and cinematic daydreams.
Made up of Taylor Edwards, Jillian Steele, and Rachel Wiggins, Just Jayne light up “Climate Change” with the kind of harmonies that shimmer like sunlight through car windows. Produced by Johnny Simpson (Jonas Brothers, Tori Kelly), the song races forward on pulsing beats and vivid storytelling — the moment friendship catches fire and turns into something more. With its addictive hook (“You’re not even tryin’, you’re makin’ the climate change”), it captures that universal rush of realizing someone you’ve always known suddenly feels brand new.
The video, directed by Kate Bowling, brings the fun full circle. Playing co-anchors of Just Jayne News, the trio deliver the forecast of their lives — dodging tornadoes, lightning, and love — all with charm, choreography, and a wink to the camera. Just Jayne say it best: “Mercury is rising and it’s in retrograde — that’s hot!”
Today, San Francisco, experimental electronic duo Late Aster release their debut full-length album, City Livin’, via Slow & Steady. With it they share a video for their cover of Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio,” simply titled “Miss Ohio.” The artwork for City Livin’ was created by acclaimed New York-based Norwegian artist and photographer Tonje Thilesen.
Regarding the decision to tackle Gillian Welch, Late Aster’s Anni Hochhalter notes. “We tried to preserve the raw, spontaneous qualities while recasting ‘Miss Ohio’ into this electronic world.”
Since their formation in 2019, the San Francisco-based Late Aster has released one studio EP, 2021’s True and Toxic, and one live EP, 2023’s Light Rail Session. “I’ve always been interested in this idea of creating the coolest wallpaper you could think of,” Messing muses. “We’re like Daft Punk, if they were band nerds.”
The equation has paid off with a feature in Tape Op, praise from the SF Chronicle, who called their sounds “unprecedented” and “as impressive a local debut as I’ve heard this year.” And Under the Radar, who called their music, “a fascinating exploration of juxtaposition and expectation.”
Messing and Hochhalter are both classically trained; Messing studied Trumpet Performance at Northwestern University, and Hochhalter studied French Horn Performance at the University of Southern California. Environmental attorney by day, synth and visualizer obsessive by night, Messing began solo, recording an EP of voice, piano, and trumpet with animated visual accompaniment; Hochhalter is a founding member of the Billboard Traditional Classical chart-topping wind quintet WindSync.
The essence of the sound of City Livin’ then, lies in Late Aster’s embrace of a relatively simple, DIY-friendly recording device from the late ‘90s: the TASCAM Portastudio 414 MKII, which offers a low-fidelity quality and omnipresent fuzz. By virtue of its overall sonic aesthetic, the album is a nod to lo-fi ambient and hip-hop. But in keeping with Late Aster’s typical output, the album grabs from every genre within arm’s reach, then mixed, once again, with engineer Charles Mueller.
The duo settled on the album’s title City Livin’ after the track itself was created, inspired by the song’s gravitation around a monochromatic core. While there are some melt-your-face components like the peculiarity of the synth and high repetition of the off-beat hi-hat, the song almost reads as numb. It whizzes past you and feels pretty good but is strangely featureless, almost opaque. It’s a backhanded reflection of that idea: plenty of shiny objects from food, to people, to art, to parks in the city to distract you from what is essentially the blandness of the human experience—birth, life, and death as a single unit of a massive unknowable universe.
Another highlight is a cover of singer/songwriter great Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio,” from her 2003 album Soul Journey: “We tried to preserve the raw, honest qualities while recasting ‘Miss Ohio’ into this electronic world,” Hochhalter says.
Hochhalter chalks up Late Aster as “an electronica duo, filtering brass instruments through dozens of effects pedals.” It’s the distinct personality they bring to the party — as well as a distinctly sticky way with songcraft — that makes that “wallpaper” truly sparkle.
Post-funk artist Alex Fernet has released his new album Modern Night via Bronson Recordings. Alongside the record comes the final single “Hey Lady,” following “Sunlight Vampires” and “The Nightdrive.” Together, these songs create a world of hazy night drives, neon reflections, and quiet emotion.
“Hey Lady” moves like a whispered confession in a smoke-filled room. Fernet channels intimacy through groove and synth, crafting a sound that glows with late-night warmth. It’s cinematic, romantic, and alive with nostalgia — the kind of track that plays through a car stereo parked under a flickering streetlight.
Self-produced and mixed by Maurizio Baggio (Boy Harsher, The Soft Moon), Modern Night blends post-industrial funk, vintage soul, and analog texture into something human and breathing. Each note feels lived-in and intentional. As Fernet says, “In an era of over-edited sound, the most radical act might be to let things breathe.”
The revolution has a soundtrack. On the heels of their debut album Zero Hour, American concept-rock visionaries CANTERVICE return with The Masquerade (Toronto Is Broken & Zardonic Remix) — a ferocious collision of electronic chaos and dystopian truth. Where guitars once raged, now thunderous basslines and cinematic drops shake the walls, turning rebellion into rhythm.
This isn’t just a remix — it’s a transmission from the future. Toronto Is Broken and Zardonic take CANTERVICE’s politically charged anthem and supercharge it with industrial adrenaline, transforming its apocalyptic message into a high-octane drum & bass storm built for the dancefloor and the revolution alike.
For CANTERVICE, music is a manifesto. Their world is one where freedom has been commodified, technology weaponized, and reality rewritten by those in power. “Freedom is an illusion,” they warn. But behind every lyric and every drop, there’s a spark — an invitation to wake up, question, and fight back before the silence becomes permanent.
Dr. Zeus, Pressa, Lady Leshurr, and Deep Jandu have combined on “Rider,” an allstar Punjabi Hip Hop-infused anthem that unites borders. Out now, this global hit brings together voices from the UK, Canada, and India.
Directed by Ricky MK, Kirt Malli, and Ricky J, “Rider’s” music video is captivating, featuring silky-smooth transitions and scenes that depict the artists in a dual reality of earthly luxury and cosmic scenes. The production is layered with 808s and a vibey undertone thanks to UK producer Dr. Zeus’s imprint. Known for his signature Punjabi and Bhangra beats, Dr Zeus oozed class on yet another production delivering an earworm beat that carries the tempo of the song. BJ Gill from E3 Entertainment put the project together, with the single being released by Manu Kaushish at Create Music Group.
Elevating the beat, each artist’s verse on “Rider” leaves a lasting impression. Pressa kicks off the song with a standout verse, effortlessly gliding through the beat and showcasing why he’s one of the most exciting acts in the Canadian music scene. He has been on an impressive run adding “Rider” as a single complementing his previous release “President’s Choice (PC)” dropped in June. He then passes the mic to Lady Leshurr, who delivers a melodic and impactful performance, ensuring the UK is powerfully represented. Finally, Deep Jandu’s presence is felt from his opening line, as he adds Punjabi flair, completing this global anthem with a memorable verse that will keep fans talking.
Watch the official music video for “Rider” here and stream the track on all available platforms here.
When The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, they didn’t just change how albums sounded—they changed how they looked. Created by artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, the cover was a pop-culture explosion in cardboard form. A band within a band, surrounded by an audience of legends, eccentrics, philosophers, and icons, all packed into one technicolor moment that’s still studied, debated, and loved today.
The vision was simple: a new band posing after a concert, with fans—real, fictional, dead, or alive—cheering them on. Blake and Haworth turned that concept into history, with life-sized cutouts of everyone from spiritual gurus to Hollywood stars. And, yes, Adolf Hitler and Jesus Christ were both modeled but ultimately left out.
Sri Yukteswar Giri Aleister Crowley Mae West Lenny Bruce Karlheinz Stockhausen W.C. Fields Carl Jung Edgar Allan Poe Fred Astaire Richard Merkin The Vargas Girl Leo Gorcey (removed) Huntz Hall Simon Rodia Bob Dylan Aubrey Beardsley Sir Robert Peel Aldous Huxley Dylan Thomas Terry Southern Dion DiMucci Tony Curtis Wallace Berman Tommy Handley Marilyn Monroe William S. Burroughs Sri Mahavatar Babaji Stan Laurel Richard Lindner Oliver Hardy Karl Marx H.G. Wells Sri Paramahansa Yogananda James Joyce Stuart Sutcliffe Max Miller George Petty’s Petty Girl Marlon Brando Tom Mix Oscar Wilde Tyrone Power Larry Bell David Livingstone Johnny Weissmuller Stephen Crane Issy Bonn George Bernard Shaw H.C. Westermann Albert Stubbins Sri Lahiri Mahasaya Lewis Carroll T.E. Lawrence Sonny Liston (wax model) George Harrison (wax model) John Lennon (wax model) Ringo Starr (wax model) Paul McCartney (wax model) Shirley Temple (appears three times) Diana Dors (wax model) Albert Einstein Bette Davis Bobby Breen Marlene Dietrich American Legionnaire Mahatma Gandhi (removed) Adolf Hitler (removed) Sophia Loren (obscured) Marcello Mastroianni (obscured) Timothy Carey (obscured) Unidentified laughing figure Jesus Christ (not modeled)
Objects and Props: Hookah (water pipe) Fukusuke figure (symbol of good luck) Stone figure of Snow White Baritone horn Drumhead by Joe Ephgrave Idol of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi Trophy Antique stone bust of a Victorian man 9-inch Sony television set Stone figure of a girl Cloth doll of Shirley Temple wearing “Welcome The Rolling Stones Good Guys” sweater Three-stringed flower guitar Stone figure Garden gnome Cloth snake Flowers
The Beatles’ Instruments: John Lennon – French horn Paul McCartney – Cor anglais George Harrison – Piccolo Ringo Starr – Trumpet
Removed Or Hidden Figures: Leo Gorcey Adolf Hitler Sophia Loren Marcello Mastroianni Timothy Carey Mahatma Gandhi Jesus Christ Unidentified laughing figure
Every name. Every face. Every object. The world’s most iconic album cover remains a living collage of music, art, and imagination.
PUP’s Tiny Desk set is everything you want from a band called Pathetic Use of Potential — loud, funny, and painfully honest. Existential dread never sounded this fun. Five songs, zero small talk, all heart.
