#95 - The Highlife 🌞

Happy Sunlighter Sunday! First, we want to acknowledge that United States politics is experiencing extraordinarily dark times this week - we hope that everyone can act as agents of change and support one another, through both the good times and tumultuous times. Second, we have a change to our newsletter that we want to announce: Donya and I have spent the better part of almost two years writing Sunlighter (almost) every week, and while we’re still committed to keeping our readers up-to-date on the music industry and helping you all find that next “big artist,” after this issue, we’ll be temporarily moving our newsletter cadence to monthly. Don’t worry, we’ll still highlight the most important music industry events, and the structure will remain the same, but this also means that each monthly newsletter will likely be a longer read. In the meantime, if you want to drop us a line at any point, you know where to find us.

Rating Rationale: After covering Griff in our 16th edition, it’s safe to say we’ve been waiting for this album for a long time. Largely recorded while touring with some of the biggest artists in the world (Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Florence and the Machine), Griff and her creative team wrote every track with “that dizzy upside-down sensation that heartache often leaves you with.” She released eight of the tracks in a two-part EP launch, through vert1go vol. 1 and ver2go vol. 2, in which you can hear the contrast between the dark versus euphoric songs on the respective records. Combined with six additional tracks, her debut album showcases a natural, strong maturation in Griff’s vocals, songwriting, and overall production from her debut EP, One Foot In Front Of The Other. Our favorite tracks are Mura Masa-produced “Cycles,” Imogen Heap-sounding “19th Hour,” and the title track, “Vertigo,” which Griff calls her “invisible string” connection to Taylor Swift (the track was written in the same room where Taylor wrote “Clean”).

LL Cool J, Childish Gambino, and Khalid announce new albums

In what will be his first album in 11 years, LL Cool J plans to release The FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) on September 6th, featuring Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Nas, and Saweetie. Childish Gambino previewed a few songs from his final album at an exclusive event in NYC, and Khalid shared plans to release his upcoming third studio album, Sincere.

Rema drops surprise sophomore album HEIS, J Balvin announces RAYO

Following the commercial success of his debut album, Raves & Roses, and subsequent remix of hit song “Calm Down” featuring Selena Gomez, Rema surprised fans earlier this week with the release of his sophomore album, HEIS.

Meanwhile, J Balvin announced his upcoming album, RAYO, will drop on August 9th, with a central theme of “having an earnest need for human connection.” The tracklist includes features from Feid, Chencho Corleone, and Saiko.

Founding member departs from Big Thief, Josephine Vander West of Oh Wonder Finds Joy in debut solo album, Bright Eyes roll Five Dice, All Threes

Last week, Big Thief parted ways with their bassist and founding member, Max Oleartchik, sharing the news with fans via Instagram. The band shared that the change was made for “interpersonal” reasons as the band prepares for its next era.

Speaking of new eras, Josephine Vander West of Oh Wonder plans to release her debut solo album under the moniker, That Woman on August 9th. She describes the album as 15 years in the making, and you can listen to the first three tracks off the record here.

Turn around, Bright Eyes are back with their 10th studio album, Five Dice, All Threes, which is set to drop on September 20th. While you wait for the drop and subsequent UK/Europe fall tour dates, you can listen to the leading single, “Bells and Whistles.”

deadmau5 surprises fans with new EP and album, Tame Impala introduces Telepathic Instruments

deadmau5 teased to his fans, the Hoard, that his upcoming EP and subsequent album are in the works, the first of which is set to drop this week. To celebrate the occasion, he is hosting an intimate performance on July 16th at the recently renovated Hackney Church in London.

Meanwhile, Tame Impala is in the early stages of building an electronic instruments company. Although there’s not much to report just yet, visit the website for yourself to experience some thought-provoking distortion and to sign up for updates.

Primer: In a departure from our usual focus on singer-songwriters and music groups, this week, we’re shifting to the field of music production, exploring the dual roots of London and Accra-based Afrobeats producer, Julian Nicco-Annan, or simply, Juls. Born in Hackney, East London, Juls’ early ambition of designing buildings as an architect (and later becoming a physicist) was eventually replaced by an unexpected interest in pursuing music production while studying finance at university. After lending his laptop to a friend and receiving it back with FL Studio installed, Juls began to take his passion for music more seriously, eventually focusing on it full-time in 2018. During his time at university, Juls began exploring the cultural sounds associated with his Ghanaian roots and how to best incorporate the instrumentals of Ghanaian highlife into the fabric of his production. After refining his sound, he eventually reached out to Nigerian artist, Mr. Eazi, (who at the time was relatively unknown in most Afrobeats circles) and asked to remix his song “Bankulize.” With its release and subsequent collaborations on hit singles like “Skin Tight,” Juls began to gain international interest and was broadly associated as one of the early pioneers and blueprints for modern Afrobeats production. Since then, Juls has produced for Burna Boy, Wizkid, GoldLink, Wande Cole, and even Tyler, the Creator. As the modern Afrobeats movement continues to popularize and evolve, we expect Juls to continue pushing the boundaries of Afrobeats sound, just as he helped bring the interwoven elements of Ghanaian highlife and UK production to the forefront of music.

What’s Next: Since releasing his PALMWINE DIARIES VOL.1 EP and High Life Sessions late last year, Juls has continued to expand his Afrobeats production discography by releasing two singles this year, “Hold You Down,” and “Best Interest.” Additionally, to celebrate the 10th year of his music career, he’s hosting his first (sold-out) live music experience in London later this October.

Ticketmaster integrates with Shazam, Amuse helps artists identify streaming fraud

⚡️ Shazam It: Live Nation subsidiary, Ticketmaster, announced an integration with Apple-owned Shazam, allowing artists to link their upcoming shows to their Shazam profile.

✅ Stream Check: Swedish music distribution and services company, Amuse, released their latest tool to help artists check for artificial streams.

Blackstone officially purchases Hipgnosis, UMG UK reorganizes, UMG explores Indigenous and anime music

💰 Purchase Agreement: After a short-lived bidding war, Blackstone has officially purchased Hipgnosis for $1.6 billion, closing the chapter on a tumultuous year for the catalog acquisition company.

🧱 More Restructuring: UMG’s UK division is restructuring to combine its Island Records and EMI Label organizations into Island EMI while also creating a new Audience and Media Division that will provide support to all UK labels and sub-labels, including Island EMI and Polydor. This likely translates to additional layoffs.

🪐 More Universal: UMG’s Australia division launched Irruk Birruk, a non-profit record label aimed at improving access to Indigenous music 👏🏼. Additionally, UMG’s Virgin Music Group is partnering with Tokyo-based Anime content and distribution company, Frontier Works, to release anime music projects, a strategic move hoping to capitalize on the growing global popularity of anime.

💰 Securing the Bag: French digital music company, Believe, has taken a 25% stake in Romania-based EDM label, Global Records, presumably to grow its electronic music distribution business.

MEGAN debuts at #3 helping women artists take 4 of Top 5 spots on Billboard 200

📈 Megan Thee Stallion scores her second-highest album debut week, with MEGAN at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop charts with 64,000 album units sold. She joins fellow artists Taylor Swift (#1), Billie Eilish (#4), and Chappell Roan (#5) marking the first time women artists have secured four of the Top 5 Billboard 200 spots since March 2023.

Hip-hop album releases take center stage, charity collaborative album, ceasefire, will be released to support Doctors Without Borders medics helping Gaza civilians

📅 For upcoming albums, tours, and festivals access our comprehensive music calendar here.

📣 Album Announcements: Magdalena Bay announced upcoming album, Imaginal Disk, will be released on August 23rd.

⏩ Here are album releases to look out for this week: 

1. Childish Gambino, Bando Stone & the New World

2. Fontaines DC, Massive Attack, Young Fathers, ceasefire

3. Glass Animals, I Love You So F***ing Much

4. Stray Kids, ATE

5. Blxst, I’ll Always Come Find You

6. Denzel Curry, King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2

7. midwxst, BACK IN ACTION 4.0

8. Rich The Kid, Life’s A Gamble

9. Deadmau5, some ep

10. Highly Suspect, As Above, So Below

11. Avery Anna, Breakup Over Breakfast

12. JT, City Cinderella

13. Boombox Cartel, Proof of Life

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See ya next Sunday 😎

Chris and Donya