ICYMI:

Just in time for the iTunes Festival segment of SXSW this weekend, headliner Coldplay has released new music for their upcoming album via YouTube. Ghost Stories, the follow-up to 2011's Mylo Xyloto, is set to premier May 19th and the first two singles barely push the envelope die-hard Coldplay fans come to love from albums past. Newest track "Magic" is a bit too pop-infused, nearly butchering Chris Martin's signature croon with lyrics so basic we pray they weren't influenced by Gwyneth Paltrow. "Midnight" is echo-y and reminiscent of Bon Iver, drifting from their typical guitar/drum driven sound. With these two tracks Ghost Stories may have Parachutes fans hoping it's all a dark fable, with mild EDM a figment of Coldplay's imagination.

What do you think? Should fans of pre-Mylo Zyloto Coldplay be afraid of their change?

On the Radar:

Kitten

Grunge-pop band Kitten is known for their electric live performances and youthful energy in their musicality. The band has yet to pull together a full LP, but that will all be a thing in the past when their self-titled album drops in a few months. Loose cannon and frontman Chloe Chaidez talks about their side project used to preoccupy Kitten's (and their fans) time before the album releases:

In the process of recording the Kitten album we kept coming up with really cool ideas/beats that didn't quite fit but  were really where I was at the moment.  Old Missy Elliot, Arca, Drake, Future, Yeezus, etc...I thought it might be a cool idea to release a few of the tracks. Just a way let loose and have a good time making music with different friends while waiting for the album to come out. Ariel stopped by for the video and we just shot us hanging out together. This video was directed by Kaitlin Christy. She's a student at NYU and a close friend. It was a shot at an old Hollywood motel for about $300 and we had a great time making it.

"Money," the newest track below, is one of their more risky and peculiar divergences. Spontaneously shot and overwhelmingly low budget--Chaidez and Ariel Pink (Girls) are filmed in a motel seemingly under the influence as Chaidez's barely audible lyrics whisper through the late night swims and chain smoking. Is this what is to come of Kitten's fast approaching LP?

Foster the People

Alternative-melodic rock band Foster the People have been teasing their new album for months and in January the unveiling of the title, Supermodel, was finally dropped. After the whirl-wind success of their debut album and a nearly three year wait, audiences around the world have been anxiously anticipating the March 18th sophomore LP date. Single number one (posted below) from Supermodel is upbeat "Coming of Age". It's chalk-full of all the pop and pizzaz fans of Foster adore and the rest of the album shares that infectious, positive vibe, according to a Rolling Stone interview with the band. Currently they are on a tour around North America with St. Lucia:

March 14: Austin, TX—Butler Park (SXSW)
March 21: Toronto, Canada—The Horseshoe Tavern
March 24: London, England—Troxy
March 28: Paris, France—Gaité Lyrique
April 8: Pomona, CA—Fox Theater
April 9: Solana Beach, CA—Belly Up Tavern
April 12: Indio, CA—Coachella
April 15: Tempe, AZ—Marquee Theatre
April 16: Tuscon, AZ—The Rialto Theatre
Apr 18: Las Vegas, NV—Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan*
Apr 19: Indio, CA—Coachella
Apr 25: Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium*
April 25-27: Kingston, GA—CounterPoint Music Festival
Apr 28: Tulsa, OK—Cain’s Ballroom*
Apr 29: Dallas, TX—South Side Ballroom*
Apr 30: Houston, TX—Bayou Music Center*
May 2 - 4: Tampa, FL—Big Guava Music Festival
May 3: New Orleans, LA—New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 5: Charlotte, NC—The Fillmore Charlotte*
May 9: Boston, MA—House of Blues*
May 10: Columbia, MD—Sweetlife Festival
May 11: Camden, NJ—Susquehanna Bank Center
May 13: Toronto, ON—Massey Hall*
May 15: Detroit, MI—The Fillmore Detroit*
May 16: Chicago, IL—Riviera Theater*
May 21: Vancouver, BC—Queen Elizabeth Theatre*
May 22: Portland, OR—Roseland Theater*
May 23-25: Quincy, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
June 6-8: New York, NY—Governors Ball Music Festival

Painted Palms

Psychedelic pop duo Painted Palms turns winter upside-down with summer-punched tracks (minus misplaced, jingle-belled "Here It Comes") from their latest album Forever. The group creates their unique sounds by utilizing nearly every abstract instrument in their grasp. They've been compared to acts like Panda Bear and Animal Collective with vocal inspiration from the Beach Boys. It's hard to imagine, but somehow all the mixed sounds seem to come together. If you're heading to Austin for SXSW be sure to catch them in their festival debut.

ICYMI:

theguardian.com

Swedish singer Lykke Li reveals the title of her upcoming, dream-pop album I Never Learn via YouTube. The trailer hued and slightly faded, shows a displaced Li clad in all white pensive on a hilltop overlooking a distant city. It's disheartening and stark with dying flowers and tears shed over lost love, a low banter (an unnamed single) soundtracking the clip. Li told NME, "It's always about me and the guilt and the shame and the hurt and the pride and the confusion of being a woman." The singer also mentioned that this is the last installment in the trilogy of her past three albums. I Never Learn is set to drop May 6th.

In Review:

Phantogram

Voices

Sprouted in 2007, the electronic rock duo Phantogram has turned heads and sparked the interests of music lovers from all spectrums.

The natives of New York, Sarah (lead vocals and keyboards) and Josh (vocals and guitar) have an impressive touring track record: acts include supporting The xx, Beach House, School of Seven Bells, and Metric plus appearances at a few of the world’s greatest music festivals. Everyone wants a piece of what Phantogram has to offer and the other half of Outkast, Big Boi, is no exception. In February the rapper collaborated with Phantogram to create three remixes as part of a #MashupMonday segment—to eventually be made into an EP. Phantogram’s schedule proves to be tightly packed with working on a song for the Catching Fire soundtrack and their second LP Voices, which debuted February 18^th.

ghostly.com

The lead single off Voices is choppy, grunge tune Nothing But Trouble. The track opens up the album—powerful and dangerous, it stacks many digitized elements creating the dark foundation for the rest of the coming songs. Immediately proceeding Nothing But Trouble is catchy Black Out Days. Jingling and drumming, the synth-dripped track blends subtle piano trills into a complicated mixture: a producer’s paradise and musical labyrinth. Lest we forget the ever-haunting vocals of Josh in Never Going Home. He croons a heart-breaking ballad over hollow bass, amidst Sarah’s inaudible mutters and stitched echoes.

Headed down a caliginous road, Phantogram pours liquid melancholy into their icon-inspired track “Bill Murray”. Sarah’s vocals are beautifully, smooth and distant. They flow simultaneously with somber guitar strums and texturized synth—moaning “We’ll be tall.” A Lost in Translation vibe coated thick throughout its verses.

Voices boasts versatility through its eleven tracks. The album may be brooding with darker tones, but Phantogram artfully constructs each song by building its insensity with multiple instrumentals and layered synth. The album is a vessel taking its audiences on an abstruse journey of tenebrously enticing feats. Not only has innovative Phantogram managed to enrapture fans and critics, but their work will continue to forefront generations of musicians to come.

Phantogram is currently on a North American tour with a few stops in Europe during the late spring.